Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $614.55 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,569,165 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 31,308 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $614,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $10,673,126,000 after buying an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during 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 increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total transaction of $2,137,455.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at $20,088,752.07. The trade was a 9.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8%

VRTX stock opened at $477.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $121.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $451.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.22.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.68.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.