Park National Corp OH Acquires Shares of 1,180 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Park National Corp OH bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,180 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,771,226,000 after purchasing an additional 144,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock opened at $451.63 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $438.71 and a 200-day moving average of $453.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $507.92. The company has a market cap of $114.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,195 shares of company stock valued at $6,801,006. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Maxim Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

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.