Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Carmen Bozic Sells 1,745 Shares

Key Points

• Vertex CMO Carmen Bozic sold 1,745 shares on June 5 at an average price of $450 each, totaling $785,250. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• After the transaction, Bozic still owned 21,015 Vertex shares, worth about $9.46 million, representing a 7.67% reduction in her holdings. The article also notes she had made additional sales earlier in March and May.
• Vertex shares rose 0.6% to $445.77, and the company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $4.47 versus $4.24 estimated. Analysts remain broadly positive, with 22 Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) CMO Carmen Bozic sold 1,745 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $785,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 21,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,456,750. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Carmen Bozic also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 12th, Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00.
• On Friday, March 13th, Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $2.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $445.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 870,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,377,567. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $507.92. The company has a market capitalization of $113.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $437.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $451.98.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,440,149,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,836,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $166,317,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VRTX. Maxim Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.91.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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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