Bruce I. Sachs Sells 7,073 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4 %

VRTX stock traded up $6.15 on Friday, reaching $456.95. 1,050,952 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $406.58. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $320.01 and a one year high of $457.66. The company has a market cap of $117.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $432.18.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,805,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,872,586,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,103 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $1,237,877,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after buying an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $277,317,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.