Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,862 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,528 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,862 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 39,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,729,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 41,447 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,691,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 527,474 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $212,414,000 after purchasing an additional 16,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $474.50 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $438.74 and its 200-day moving average is $460.99. The company has a market cap of $121.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -215.68, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released 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 net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.