Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 39.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 792 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 507 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the third 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 during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 124,197 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,535,000 after acquiring an additional 8,866 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 216.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 4,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,368 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $471.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $444.89 and a 200 day moving average of $426.80. The firm has a market cap of $121.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $335.82 and a one year high of $486.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,198,300.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 7,288 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.00, for a total value of $3,483,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,634,616. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,366 shares of company stock worth $13,058,787 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.