Jennison Associates LLC Sells 509,482 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Jennison Associates LLC reduced its Vertex stake by 15.7% in the first quarter, selling 509,482 shares and leaving it with about 2.74 million shares valued at roughly $1.22 billion.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive on Vertex Pharmaceuticals, with 22 analysts rating it a Buy and an average price target of $559.61; several firms recently raised targets, including RBC, Truist, and Barclays.
• Vertex continues to post strong financial results, reporting quarterly EPS of $4.47 versus $4.24 expected and revenue of $2.99 billion, while the stock traded around $485.65 and remains near its 52-week high.

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,740,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 509,482 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 0.8% of Jennison Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 1.08% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $1,223,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

VRTX stock opened at $485.65 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $462.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $459.00. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $533.67. The stock has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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