Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 168,138 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 42,095 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $67,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after acquiring an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after purchasing an additional 100,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $731,283,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $511.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $131.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -232.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $469.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $462.79. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.