Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 43,682 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 989,342 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,682 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.39% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $441,759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

VRTX opened at $480.50 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $463.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.19. The stock has a market cap of $121.95 billion, a PE ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.