Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. Takes $1.53 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore opened a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Q4, buying 3,364 shares worth about $1.53 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CMO Carmen Bozic and EVP Joy Liu both selling shares under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans; insiders have sold $5.31 million of stock over the last 90 days.
• Analysts remain constructive on Vertex, with 22 Buy ratings and 3 Holds, and a consensus price target of $555.91 versus the stock’s Friday open near $441.74.

Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,364 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $1,525,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $4,695,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,717 shares of company stock valued at $5,309,945. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $590.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $542.00 price target for the company. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $441.74 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $507.92. The stock has a market cap of $112.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $437.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.84.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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