Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Purchased by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,226 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,440,149,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock opened at $476.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $459.21 and a 200-day moving average of $458.56. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% 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 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.