QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,780 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

QRG Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,562 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,780 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 58,946.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 393,841 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $158,600,000 after buying an additional 393,174 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 39,060 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,729,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Nwam LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after buying an additional 1,178 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $135,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 41,447 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,691,000 after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $479.79 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $123.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -218.09, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $440.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $461.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,084 shares of company stock worth $505,512 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.