Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Reduces Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,588 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 0.8% of Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $4.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $400.76. The stock had a trading volume of 805,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,240,464. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $398.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $316.43 and a 52 week high of $448.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.99, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total value of $1,114,218.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 27,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.