Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Has $578,000 Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 75.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,142 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the third quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 432,937 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,550,000 after buying an additional 26,523 shares during the period. Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,133,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 427,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $148,485,000 after buying an additional 5,514 shares during the period. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $816,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $1.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $394.75. The stock had a trading volume of 111,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,233,278. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $316.43 and a 12 month high of $448.40. The company has a market capitalization of $102.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $414.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $396.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.