Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) CFO Sells $604,705.68 in Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) CFO Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 2,088 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.61, for a total value of $604,705.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 56,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,231,192.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $295.25 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $233.01 and a fifty-two week high of $325.19. The stock has a market cap of $75.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 4.66 and a current ratio of 4.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.94.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.65. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 37.20% and a return on equity of 27.78%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 12.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $313.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Argus increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, December 19th. Finally, SVB Securities decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $374.00 to $365.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 165 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Emfo LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Emfo LLC now owns 254 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 8,837 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Condor Capital Management increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 7,222 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a global biotechnology company, which engages in the business of discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for patients with serious diseases. The firm focuses on development and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disorders including pain and multiple sclerosis.