AMF Tjanstepension AB Has $139.73 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• AMF Tjanstepension AB significantly increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, buying an additional 166,968 shares in the first quarter. Its holdings rose to 312,917 shares worth about $139.73 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with 21 Buy ratings and four Hold ratings. The stock’s average target price is $557.09, and several brokerages recently reiterated or raised bullish price targets.
• Vertex reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $4.47 per share versus the $4.24 estimate while revenue came in at $2.99 billion, in line with expectations. The company also posted year-over-year revenue growth of 8.3%.

AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 114.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 312,917 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 166,968 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 0.9% of AMF Tjanstepension AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. AMF Tjanstepension AB owned approximately 0.12% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $139,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,440,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during 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 last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,317,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $149,291,000 after acquiring an additional 319,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $542.00 target price for the company. Maxim Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $557.09.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $485.39 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $457.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $458.32. The company has a market cap of $123.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals'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 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% 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 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex’s $10 billion acquisition of Crinetics is being seen as a major expansion move that could add future growth drivers beyond its core cystic fibrosis business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Vertex as a strong long-term compounder, with articles pointing to its decade-long stock performance and durable earnings power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on Vertex as one of the best QQQ stocks emphasized the July 1 FDA expansion for CASGEVY, which strengthened the company’s gene-therapy growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Additional biotech commentary has kept Vertex in focus as one of the sector’s more attractive names, reinforcing investor interest in the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data was reported at zero shares, which does not provide a meaningful trading signal and is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several other biotech articles mentioned Vertex only in passing or as part of broader sector coverage, with limited direct impact on VRTX.

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.

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