Appleton Partners Inc. MA Decreases Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,846 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 219 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $998,050,000 after buying an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 124,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,535,000 after buying an additional 8,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after buying an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total transaction of $1,089,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 32,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,477,162. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $1,089,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 32,379 shares in the company, valued at $15,477,162. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 26,086 shares of company stock valued at $11,983,266. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $462.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $443.55.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $467.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $335.82 and a 52-week high of $486.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $432.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.53.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.22 EPS for the current year.

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.