GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Sells 3,957 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,834 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,957 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $213,435,000 after purchasing an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $4,695,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 11,717 shares of company stock worth $5,309,945 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $438.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $438.67 and a 200 day moving average of $451.92. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.