AIA Group Ltd Decreases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,522 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,299 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $13,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% 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. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1%

VRTX opened at $485.65 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $533.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $462.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $459.00. The company has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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.