Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 2,576 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,218 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,576 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $293,000. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the third quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 974 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.6% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,130 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,175,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,568 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Maxim Group cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.79, for a total transaction of $201,979.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,174,603.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of VRTX traded down $3.45 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $401.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 478,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,235,970. The firm has a market cap of $103.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $316.43 and a 1-year high of $448.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $413.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $398.36.

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

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.