WP Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

WP Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,199 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 845 shares during the quarter. WP Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 19,698 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after buying an additional 3,629 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 179.2% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,832 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after buying an additional 3,743 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after buying an additional 9,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 29.0% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 5,957 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $465.70 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $341.90 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $476.39 and a 200 day moving average of $472.09. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.