DAVENPORT & Co LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4%, bringing its total ownership to 226,184 shares valued at approximately $100.49 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Price T Rowe Associates, have also raised their holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, contributing to a total of 90.96% institutional ownership of the company.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported an earnings per share of $4.52 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, and indicated projected revenue growth with a guidance of $15.63 EPS for the current year.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 226,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned 0.09% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $100,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,388,985,000 after buying an additional 232,873 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after purchasing an additional 744,680 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,953,512 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,916,742,000 after purchasing an additional 33,492 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,414,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,559,476 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,240,885,000 after purchasing an additional 230,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $403.30 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $103.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $399.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $442.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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