Bokf Na Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bokf Na reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,003 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,229 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 25,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares during the last quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,763,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $485.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $125.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $341.85 and a 1-year high of $510.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $450.11.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.