Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Acquires 3,710 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 11.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,417,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $956,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 447,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $202,612,000 after buying an additional 86,084 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,341 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 832,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,582,000 after acquiring an additional 69,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,833 shares of company stock worth $7,120,702. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $528.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $134.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $447.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.95. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $529.14.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.