Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 17,808 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc boosted its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 0.9% in Q4, adding 17,808 shares to bring its total to 1,970,105 shares worth about $893.2 million.
• Vertex reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting EPS of $4.47 versus the $4.24 estimate, while revenue came in at $2.99 billion and rose 8.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains constructive on VRTX: the stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating with an average target price of $555.17, despite some insider selling in recent months.

Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,970,105 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,808 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.78% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $893,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% during the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 74 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $434.52 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $110.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $441.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 223 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $108,456.05. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,395,209.35. The trade was a 3.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% 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 sold a total of 21,189 shares of company stock worth $9,923,036 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Truist Financial upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America boosted 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.17.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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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