Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,380 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Chiron Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,959.3% during the first quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 9,510 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after buying an additional 9,392 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 100,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,455,000 after buying an additional 23,819 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.7% during the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 56,172 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,768,000 after buying an additional 5,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Group lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 43.4% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 2,713 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $350.00 to $347.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $384.00 to $399.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.13.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.2 %

VRTX stock opened at $350.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 3.89. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $282.21 and a 1-year high of $387.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $360.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $350.63. The firm has a market cap of $90.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.53 by $0.55. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.94% and a return on equity of 22.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $4,331,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,400,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 11,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $4,331,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,400,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 12,962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.00, for a total transaction of $4,847,788.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 22,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,411 shares of company stock worth $18,511,525 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO and SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF homozygous F508del mutation for CF patients 2 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 4 months or older who have CF with a mutation that is responsive to ivacaftor, and R117H mutation or one of certain gating mutations.