The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 622,225 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,350 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $289,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Qsemble Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 1,264 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 557,217 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $257,925,000 after acquiring an additional 45,789 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $35,000. Boston Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $263,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 32.5% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 57,867 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,913,000 after purchasing an additional 14,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $461.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $473.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $474.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.02 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $346.29 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $451.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.38.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.