Amalgamated Bank Decreases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,909 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,767 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $20,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Old North State Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 102 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. New Hampshire Trust purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, American National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 111 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $342.00 to $384.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $325.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. SVB Leerink reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $374.00 to $365.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $299.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $352.59.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $3.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $329.06. 704,316 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,190,498. The company has a current ratio of 4.28, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $328.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.29. The firm has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.49. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $243.17 and a fifty-two week high of $354.46.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.40% and a return on equity of 25.06%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Bastiano Sanna sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.66, for a total transaction of $568,770.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 38,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,356,990.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.00, for a total value of $392,625.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 35,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,350,063. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bastiano Sanna sold 1,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.66, for a total transaction of $568,770.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 38,091 shares in the company, valued at $13,356,990.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,497 shares of company stock valued at $20,835,867 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a global biotechnology company, which engages in the business of discovering, developing, manufacturing, and commercializing small molecule drugs for patients with serious diseases. The firm focuses on development and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, infectious diseases including viral infections such as influenza and bacterial infections, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological disorders including pain and multiple sclerosis.