Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 10,543 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 10,543 shares and ending with 630,289 shares valued at about $285.9 million.
• Vertex continues to attract strong institutional support, with large investors like Norges Bank and Capital International Investors increasing or initiating positions; institutional ownership now stands at 90.96%.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, posting $4.47 EPS versus the $4.24 estimate, while analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $555.91.

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 630,289 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 10,543 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.25% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $285,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,440,149,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,836,550,000 after buying an additional 2,053,156 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,521,851,000 after buying an additional 1,109,200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares during the period. Finally, Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $166,317,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a "buy" rating and a $542.00 price target on the stock. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $451.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $114.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $438.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $453.13.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% 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 15,195 shares of company stock valued at $6,801,006 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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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