Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC Has $18.20 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 62.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,202 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 74,236 shares during the quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $18,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,510,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,324,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $24,630,000 after acquiring an additional 12,631 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded down $15.21 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $434.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,990,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,381,713. The company has a market cap of $111.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -197.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $491.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $466.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.76 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.