Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Position Reduced by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 46.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,958 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $402.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $408.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $400.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $320.01 and a twelve month high of $448.40. The company has a market cap of $104.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $1.15. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.86.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.