Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 537 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 691 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 13,687 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,569,000 after buying an additional 939 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 836 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 124,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,535,000 after buying an additional 8,866 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 126.1% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.89 on Thursday, reaching $418.21. 502,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,311,157. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99. The company’s 50-day moving average is $423.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $390.87. The firm has a market cap of $108.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $310.90 and a 1-year high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares in the company, valued at $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,066,242.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,029 shares of company stock valued at $7,989,227 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Truist Financial upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $417.27.

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.