Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 222 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 76,625 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $31,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,961,000 after buying an additional 652,321 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,603,000 after buying an additional 640,899 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,452,000 after buying an additional 340,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $104,834,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $406.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $316.43 and a 1-year high of $448.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $419.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $394.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.33 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total value of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 27,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 27,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRTX. Robert W. Baird lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Evercore ISI downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $436.00 to $438.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $420.48.

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.