Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,235 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $71,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 4,470 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,220,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 793 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 7,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $563.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,827,900.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,628,850. The trade was a 19.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $541.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $502.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.67. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $374.17 and a 52-week high of $555.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.