ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Has $53.28 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. lessened its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 23.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,349 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 36,872 shares during the quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $53,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the 4th quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price 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. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price objective on the stock. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold 16,215 shares of company stock worth $7,272,420 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $491.34 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $442.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $454.16. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $507.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.06 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.