Sfmg LLC Trims Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Sfmg LLC trimmed its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,633 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,905 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $215,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 101.9% in the second quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the second quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 5,494 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,127 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 778,300 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $346,499,000 after purchasing an additional 52,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $439.00 to $438.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $491.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 53,604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.72, for a total value of $23,624,354.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,588,738.72. This trade represents a 69.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $426.76 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $411.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $425.24. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.38 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current 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.