ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Has $53.28 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• ABN AMRO Bank N.V. reduced its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 23.8% in Q1, selling 36,872 shares and ending with 118,349 shares valued at about $53.3 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with 22 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings; the stock’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy and the average price target is $555.91.
• Vertex reported solid quarterly results, posting $4.47 EPS versus the $4.24 estimate and 8.3% revenue growth year over year, while insiders also sold shares in recent months under pre-arranged trading plans.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. cut its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 23.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 118,349 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 36,872 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $53,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,279,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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. Bank of America increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 1,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.17, for a total value of $471,413.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 15,933 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,754.61. The trade was a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 16,215 shares of company stock valued at $7,272,420 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $491.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $124.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $442.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $454.16. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRTX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.