Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,759,216 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27,512 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $708,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $312,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 64.5% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 102 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 1,926 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 75,350 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,044,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.7% during the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 699 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $480.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $436.55 and a 200 day moving average of $460.77. The company has a market cap of $123.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -218.34, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.