Stonegate Investment Group LLC Has $769,000 Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 68.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,963 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,179 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after acquiring an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,627,135,000 after purchasing an additional 166,987 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after acquiring an additional 424,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,697,716,000 after purchasing an additional 65,047 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $606.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $474.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $120.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $450.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $426.86.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.