GraniteShares Advisors LLC Sells 446 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

GraniteShares Advisors LLC lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,712 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 446 shares during the period. GraniteShares Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $707,950,000. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 232.3% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 933,179 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,961,000 after purchasing an additional 652,321 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,578,444 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $744,603,000 after purchasing an additional 640,899 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 144.6% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 576,398 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $166,452,000 after purchasing an additional 340,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,378,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock traded down $3.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $394.17. 693,821 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,254,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $415.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.46. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $316.43 and a 12 month high of $448.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 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 transaction of $1,354,013.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last three months. 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.