E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Has $1.40 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 459 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 9,018 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,174,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the second quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,993 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 550 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 461 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $389.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $359.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.13.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded down $3.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $353.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 464,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,192,867. The stock has a market cap of $91.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.08. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $282.21 and a 52-week high of $387.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $360.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $350.73.

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

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 12,962 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.00, for a total value of $4,847,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 22,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,386,950. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 12,962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.00, for a total value of $4,847,788.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 22,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,386,950. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total transaction of $887,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,266,135. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,411 shares of company stock worth $18,511,525 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.