Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 71.5%, selling 56,724 shares and now owning 22,608 shares valued at $10,065,000.
• Despite institutional selling, other investors such as Brighton Jones LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC increased their positions, indicating mixed sentiment among stakeholders.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.52, exceeding analyst expectations and achieving an 11.3% year-over-year revenue growth, with guidance for FY 2025 showing promising results.

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 71.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 56,724 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,425,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the first quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 5,854 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,838,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the first quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 7,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,756,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the first quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $419.10 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $396.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $435.71. The stock has a market cap of $107.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.96 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.38.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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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