ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC increased its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 37% in the fourth quarter, adding 123,314 shares and bringing its total holding to 457,046 shares worth about $207.2 million.
• Vertex reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $4.47 versus $4.24 expected, while revenue rose 8.3% year over year to $2.99 billion.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with an average Moderate Buy rating and a consensus price target of $555.17, though one recent downgrade came from Weiss Ratings.

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 37.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 457,046 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 123,314 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $207,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 47,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $21,561,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares during the last quarter. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 4,056 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $3,999,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $436.58 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $445.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.71. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $507.92. The firm has a market cap of $110.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 668 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $324,881.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,964,403.20. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 79,802 shares of company stock valued at $37,402,568. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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