AGF Management Ltd. Raises Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Key Points

• AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 758.2% in the first quarter, owning a total of 11,483 shares valued at approximately $5.57 million.
• Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals for about $1.95 million, increasing his total shares owned to 45,000.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported earnings of $4.52 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing an 11.3% increase in revenue year-over-year.

AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 758.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,483 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,145 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 46.2% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 95 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $387.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $99.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's fifty day moving average is $448.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $464.96. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.88.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.

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