Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Purchases Shares of 13,042 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,042 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $6,478,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $563.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $541.69 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $502.08 and a 200-day moving average of $468.67. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $374.17 and a 12-month high of $555.69. The firm has a market cap of $137.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current 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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