Engineers Gate Manager LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 77.8% in the second quarter, selling 10,752 shares and retaining 3,066 shares valued at approximately $1.52 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.96% of VRTX.
• Vertex reported quarterly revenue of $3.33 billion, up 12.5% year over year and above estimates, while adjusted earnings of $4.73 per share narrowly missed consensus by one cent. The stock opened at $513.26, with a 52-week range of $374.17 to $560.25.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $570.83; UBS, Barclays and JPMorgan recently raised their targets, while insiders sold $1.87 million of shares over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.

Engineers Gate Manager LP lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 77.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,066 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 10,752 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Bangor Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 4,470 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,220,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the second quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 793 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust Co increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Glenview Trust Co now owns 7,005 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,176,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 510 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $513.26 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $374.17 and a 52-week high of $560.25. The company has a market cap of $130.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $510.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $560.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $570.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan McKechnie sold 1,541 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,637 shares of company stock valued at $1,874,834. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company combines research in human genetics with drug discovery and development.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes CFTR modulator therapies such as Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko and the combination marketed as Trikafta in the United States and Kaftrio in other markets.

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