BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Buys 39,005 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 370.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,531 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,005 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 4th 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 during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,771,226,000 after purchasing an additional 144,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $451.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $114.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $438.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.13.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.06 EPS. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% 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, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,827,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,628,850. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold a total of 15,195 shares of company stock worth $6,801,006 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $542.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.91.

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.