Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $91.17 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford trimmed its position in Vertex by 2.9%, selling 5,968 shares and ending the quarter with 201,088 shares worth about $91.17 million (roughly 0.08% of the company).
• Company insiders have sold a total of 80,431 shares worth ~$37.9 million in the past 90 days — notable sales include EVP Joy Liu and CMO Carmen Bozic — leaving insiders with approximately 0.20% ownership.
• Sell-side analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $555, and several firms have recently raised targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley $612, Barclays $607); Vertex trades with a market cap of about $111.93 billion and a P/E of 28.71.

Baillie Gifford & Co. trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,088 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 5,968 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.08% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $91,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 20,053 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $5,030,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $64,417,000. Advisory Resource Group bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $1,286,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $956,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 978 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.17, for a total value of $439,288.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,806,728.61. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,057,774.95. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,431 shares of company stock worth $37,875,167. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $577.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $596.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $606.00 to $607.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $440.05 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $463.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $446.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $510.77. The firm has a market cap of $111.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 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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