Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Sells 8,155 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 23.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,093 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,155 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $511.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $131.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $469.86 and its 200-day moving average is $462.79.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.