Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Cuts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 66.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,115 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 4,199 shares during the period. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.'s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $482.00 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $533.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $464.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $459.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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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