Carmen Bozic Sells 2,329 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,057,774.95. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $451.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $114.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $515.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $469.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $439.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,484,293,000 after acquiring an additional 243,088 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,771,226,000 after purchasing an additional 144,266 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $606.00 to $607.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $554.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.