Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 553,243 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,470 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $247,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $479.00 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $533.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $466.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $459.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.