Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA Sells 864 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA lessened its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,565 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 864 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd 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. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 704,421 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after acquiring an additional 100,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $462.58 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $377.85 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $435.70 and a 200-day moving average of $461.79.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.