Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Purchased by Graphene Investments SAS

Graphene Investments SAS grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,300 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up about 2.1% of Graphene Investments SAS’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Graphene Investments SAS’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after buying an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,627,135,000 after purchasing an additional 166,987 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after purchasing an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,697,716,000 after purchasing an additional 65,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $454.96 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $428.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.62. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68. The company has a market capitalization of $115.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 151,073 shares of company stock valued at $67,326,816 over the last ninety days. 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.