Sei Investments Co. Sells 230,797 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. cut its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 63.4% in Q1, selling 230,797 shares and leaving it with 133,226 shares worth about $59.5 million.
• Vertex continues to draw positive analyst coverage: several firms recently raised price targets, and the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target of $559.61.
• The company reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.47 versus estimates of $4.24 and revenue of $2.99 billion, while the stock was trading near $477.36 and up 0.9% on the day.

Sei Investments Co. cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 63.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,226 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 230,797 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.05% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $59,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Glenview Trust Co grew its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $477.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $465.77 and a 200 day moving average of $459.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex's marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.

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