Swedbank AB Raises Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,647 additional shares and ending with 260,743 shares worth about $118.2 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and 90.96% of Vertex’s stock is held by institutions, signaling strong professional ownership.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Vertex, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a target price of $555.17, while the company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $4.47.

Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260,743 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned about 0.10% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $118,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,026 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,279,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 114 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.17.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,189 shares of company stock valued at $9,923,036. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $434.52 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $441.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $450.85. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $507.92. The firm has a market cap of $110.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current 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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