Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp Has $5.75 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 64.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,688 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,741 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,378,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,983,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,059,000. Advisory Resource Group acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,286,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% in the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total value of $4,394,252.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at $17,391,225. The trade was a 20.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $455.00 to $546.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $522.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $472.01 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68. The company has a market capitalization of $119.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.29 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $454.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.05.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.