Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 1,550 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,760 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $55,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $412,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 46,395 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,717,000 after buying an additional 3,226 shares in the last quarter. Navigation Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $311,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the first quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 510 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the first quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 3,549 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $485.65 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $533.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $462.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.00. The stock has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were 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 directly owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.