L & S Advisors Inc Has $1.50 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

L & S Advisors Inc lowered its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,217 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $257,655,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $150,977,000 after acquiring an additional 324,188 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,080,296,000 after acquiring an additional 244,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $449.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $346.29 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $474.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.58. The stock has a market cap of $115.71 billion, a PE ratio of -225.79 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.