Private Trust Co. NA Has $448,000 Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Private Trust Co. NA lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 964 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Boston Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 57,867 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,913,000 after acquiring an additional 14,194 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,264 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $464.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $474.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.29 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,445 shares of company stock worth $2,218,394 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, eighteen 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.38.

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.