Great Lakes Advisors LLC Has $319,000 Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 792 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,510,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $662,000. Finally, Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,630,000 after buying an additional 12,631 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $504.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $129.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -229.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $457.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $461.70. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued 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, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

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.