Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 485 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Holderness Investments Co. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 1,316 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,045 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 27,822 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $696,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 104,895 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,241,000 after acquiring an additional 22,165 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4 %

VRTX stock opened at $503.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $129.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -228.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $467.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $462.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VRTX. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% 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 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.