Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stake Decreased by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 801 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 3,710 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 892 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.6% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 167 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.1 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $462.58 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $461.79. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.