First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Sells 639 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 639 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.5% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 513 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Spinnaker Trust boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 3,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $5.37 on Tuesday, hitting $451.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,286,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,416,487. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $115.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -205.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50 day moving average is $464.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.37.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.76 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current 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.