AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 99,914 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 40.7%, selling 99,914 shares and holding 145,871 shares valued at approximately $69.63 million.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals recently reported an EPS of $4.52, exceeding expectations and showing 11.3% year-over-year revenue growth with quarterly revenue of $2.94 billion.
• Insider Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares at around $389.68 each, increasing his ownership stake by 12.50% to a total of 45,000 shares valued at approximately $17.54 million.

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 40.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,871 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 99,914 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $69,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,388,985,000 after purchasing an additional 232,873 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after buying an additional 744,680 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after buying an additional 1,226,527 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,833,889 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,141,277,000 after acquiring an additional 317,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 60,572.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,425,070 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,175,722,000 after acquiring an additional 2,421,073 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $553.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX traded up $1.23 on Tuesday, reaching $396.48. 946,736 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,633,734. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $427.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $455.60. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The company has a market cap of $101.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.