Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Sells $1,122,088.91 in Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,057,774.95. The trade was a 6.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $458.05 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $469.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $439.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 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 $515.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in 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. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $554.30.

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.