L & S Advisors Inc Sells 406 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

L & S Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,811 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $9,585,000. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,280 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,180,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,067,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,842 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 200,942 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $80,919,000 after purchasing an additional 19,289 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.0 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $492.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $476.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -223.95, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 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%. 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.