Securian Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Securian Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,316 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 110.0% in the third quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.80.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,202,600. This trade represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $468.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $440.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.49.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.