Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Oppenheimer Asset Management reduced its position by 34.3% in Vertex during Q4, selling 8,740 shares and leaving 16,720 shares valued at $7.58M, while company insiders have sold 80,431 shares (about $37.9M) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with just 0.20% ownership.
• Vertex reported Q4 EPS of $5.03 (missing estimates by $0.02) and revenue of $3.19B (slightly above expectations), and analysts remain bullish overall with a consensus target price of $554.83 (consensus rating: Moderate Buy), well above the recent ~$424 share price.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 34.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,720 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 8,740 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,836,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,156 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,482,978,000 after purchasing an additional 444,990 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,373.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 361,085 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $140,119,000 after purchasing an additional 336,573 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $149,291,000 after purchasing an additional 319,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,484,293,000 after purchasing an additional 243,088 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total transaction of $2,394,361.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares in the company, valued at $8,562,646.35. The trade was a 21.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 35,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 80,431 shares of company stock worth $37,875,167 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8%

VRTX stock opened at $423.92 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $509.00. The stock's 50 day moving average is $453.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $449.22. The company has a market capitalization of $107.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.81 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $590.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $577.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $596.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $554.83.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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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