Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 127,425 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,384 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $59,263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.3% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 992 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 782 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $205,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $2,025,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,710 shares of company stock worth $3,298,206. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $431.00 to $425.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $477.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $492.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $471.12 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $121.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.08 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $474.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $465.46. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.53 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.