Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Cuts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.9%, selling 16,870 shares and holding 124,847 shares worth approximately $60.5 million.
• Various hedge funds, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Price T Rowe Associates, increased their positions in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, indicating ongoing institutional interest in the stock.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals recently reported earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations, with an income of $4.52 per share and revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lowered its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,847 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 16,870 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $60,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $11,388,985,000 after purchasing an additional 232,873 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,454,373,000 after purchasing an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,414,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 317,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,721,049 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,095,766,000 after purchasing an additional 355,057 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Truist Financial set a $490.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $503.00 price objective (down from $550.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $411.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $497.10.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $388.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $99.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80 and a beta of 0.44. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $437.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $460.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($12.83) earnings per share. 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 year.

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.

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