Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Decreases Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,746 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,770 shares of company stock worth $8,238,744. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $477.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.09 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $533.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $470.62 and its 200 day moving average is $460.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.