Moors & Cabot Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Moors & Cabot Inc. cut its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,739 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after acquiring an additional 394,338 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,218 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after acquiring an additional 837,461 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,584,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Barclays cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.7 %

VRTX stock opened at $481.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $124.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $483.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $451.24. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $341.85 and a one year high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,047 shares of company stock valued at $16,843,806 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.