KBC Group NV Acquires 7,518 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• KBC Group NV increased its stake in Vertex by 5.6%, buying 7,518 shares to own 141,120 shares (about 0.06% of the company) valued at roughly $63.98 million at quarter-end.
• Insiders have been net sellers: EVP Duncan Mckechnie and EVP Amit Sachdev sold 4,910 and 58,613 shares respectively, and insiders disposed of 80,431 shares worth about $37.9 million over the past 90 days (insiders now own ~0.20%).
• Vertex reported Q earnings of $5.03 EPS (missed by $0.02) with revenue of $3.19 billion (up 9.5% YoY), and analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $555.00.

KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,120 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,518 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $63,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% during the 3rd quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 77 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,562,646.35. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $27,479,532.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. The trade was a 49.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 80,431 shares of company stock worth $37,875,167 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $435.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $462.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $447.07. The stock has a market cap of $110.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $510.77.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Bank of America increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $596.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.00.

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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