Castleark Management LLC Sells 36,240 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Castleark Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 43.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,485 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 36,240 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up 0.7% of Castleark Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $18,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 195.7% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 127,324 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $51,273,000 after acquiring an additional 84,266 shares during the period. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.2% during the fourth quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 632.5% during the 4th quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 149,418 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $60,171,000 after buying an additional 16,653 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $503.00 price target (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $512.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.5%

VRTX opened at $447.18 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $480.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $464.03. The stock has a market cap of $114.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -203.26, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,813 shares of company stock valued at $1,889,514 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.