Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 25.4% in the second quarter, selling 16,664 shares and retaining 49,020 shares valued at approximately $24.35 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds still own 90.96% of the company.
• Vertex reported quarterly revenue of $3.33 billion, up 12.5% year over year and above expectations, though earnings per share of $4.73 narrowly missed the $4.74 consensus estimate.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $569.52; several firms recently raised their targets, including Goldman Sachs at $653.

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 25.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,020 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 16,664 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $24,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50,904.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 190,491,484 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $94,622,835,000 after purchasing an additional 190,118,003 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,299,569,000 after acquiring an additional 83,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $528.90 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $560.25. The stock has a market cap of $134.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.32. The stock's fifty day moving average is $511.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.23.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The company's revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owned 11,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 8,719 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,147 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $653.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $569.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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