Carmen Bozic Sells 6,988 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Carmen Bozic also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 13th, Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $436.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $507.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $445.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% during the 3rd quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.17.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.