Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $1.58 Billion Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 46.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,920,020 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,452,747 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,578,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $492.69 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $476.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $463.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.52 billion, a PE ratio of -223.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. 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) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

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.