AMF Tjanstepension AB Buys 83,487 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 133.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 83,487 additional shares and raising its position to 145,949 shares worth about $66.2 million.
• Overall institutional ownership remains very high, with several other funds also adding to or starting positions in VRTX; institutions now hold about 90.96% of the stock.
• Vertex beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting EPS of $4.47 versus the $4.24 estimate, while revenue grew 8.3% year over year to $2.99 billion.

AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 133.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,949 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 83,487 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned approximately 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $66,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Capstone Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Profund Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 28,818 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $13,065,000 after buying an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 457,046 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $207,206,000 after buying an additional 123,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 47,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $21,561,000 after buying an additional 3,544 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Evercore increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $27,479,532.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. This trade represents a 49.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of 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 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 79,802 shares of company stock valued at $37,402,568 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $436.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $110.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $445.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $450.71. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS 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.

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