Fifth Third Bancorp Has $8.70 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,223 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,001 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,376 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $633,551.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,662,774.61. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 466 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $214,560.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,682,677.48. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,352 shares of company stock worth $45,037,314. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $477.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $461.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.14 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share 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.