United Services Automobile Association Buys Shares of 5,953 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• United Services Automobile Association purchased 5,953 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, valued at approximately $2,933,000, in the 1st quarter of the year.
• Multiple institutional investors made significant changes to their positions in Vertex, with GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its holdings by an unprecedented 60,572.3%.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly EPS of $4.52, exceeding estimates, alongside a revenue of $2.94 billion, marking an 11.3% year-over-year increase.

United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,953 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $2,933,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421,073 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,414,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $484,053,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,454,373,000 after acquiring an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6,487.2% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 526,119 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $211,867,000 after acquiring an additional 518,132 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $8.82 on Thursday, hitting $397.37. 1,329,815 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,631,277. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $425.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $454.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($12.83) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $553.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $411.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $496.05.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.