AQR Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 19.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 536,114 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 130,577 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $251,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 60,203 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,218,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,803,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 107.1% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 7,845 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,677,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $461.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $481.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $341.85 and a 12 month high of $510.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,320,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,767 shares of company stock valued at $15,768,284. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.