Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,192 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,812 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,192 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 769.2% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,415 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 5,677 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,247,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,366,000. Finally, Groupe la Francaise boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.5% during the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 7,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on VRTX. Scotiabank raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $577.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $554.30.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total transaction of $4,394,252.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,391,225. The trade was a 20.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 93,485 shares of company stock valued at $43,967,586 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $447.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $468.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $443.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $510.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.18, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.