Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Sells 225 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 80,467 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 34.5% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 160 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $222,000. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 396 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.2% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 560 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $459.00 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $435.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $461.24.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company 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.