Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by PDT Partners LLC

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2%, owning 8,116 shares worth approximately $3.94 million after selling 1,687 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, with JPMorgan raising its target to $517 and Royal Bank of Canada lowering it to $405, while the consensus target price remains at $497.10.
• The stock closed at $391.02 with a market capitalization of $100.25 billion, reporting a significant year-over-year revenue increase of 11.3% to $2.94 billion in its recent earnings report.

PDT Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 17.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,116 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,687 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $407,000. One Wealth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.7% in the first quarter. One Wealth Capital Management LLC now owns 782 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 36,496 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $17,694,000 after buying an additional 5,053 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $970,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $497.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $391.02 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $433.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $458.67. The firm has a market cap of $100.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.95 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($12.83) earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share 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.

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