Corient Private Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Corient Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,146 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 16,119 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $45,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $513.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The company’s fifty day moving average is $459.97 and its 200 day moving average is $461.84. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $377.85 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.93 billion, a PE ratio of -233.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.