LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Sells 4,230 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,840 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,230 shares during the quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after buying an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,738,650,000 after buying an additional 1,089,063 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,627,135,000 after acquiring an additional 166,987 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after acquiring an additional 424,808 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,697,716,000 after acquiring an additional 65,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $456.20 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $430.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $498.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.