Cypress Capital Group Has $594,000 Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Cypress Capital Group trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,278 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4 %

VRTX opened at $449.32 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $346.29 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $474.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.58. The company has a market capitalization of $115.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -225.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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. Insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price objective (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

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.