BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 4,593 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.1% in the first quarter, now holding shares worth approximately $5.69 million.
• Analysts have recently downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals' ratings, with multiple firms revising price targets down, including Wolfe Research and Canaccord Genuity Group.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported an earnings surprise with $4.52 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.28 and showing a revenue increase of 11.3% year-over-year.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lowered its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 28.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,728 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 4,593 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 46.2% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 95 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of VRTX traded down $2.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $395.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,403,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,666. The stock has a market cap of $101.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24 and a beta of 0.44. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $438.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.34.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $411.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $497.10.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.