Intact Investment Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,900 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,080 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 281.0% in the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 4,191 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 3,091 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 7,593 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 203,632 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $82,856,000 after purchasing an additional 18,002 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $397.48. The company had a trading volume of 682,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,553. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $411.60 and its 200 day moving average is $398.93. The company has a market capitalization of $102.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $320.01 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

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.