Trillium Asset Management LLC Has $27.06 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Key Points

• Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 229.1%, now holding 55,816 shares valued at approximately $27 million.
• Insider Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of Vertex stock, increasing his ownership by 12.5% at an average price of $389.68 per share.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported an EPS of $4.52 for the last quarter, beating expectations and showing an 11.3% year-over-year revenue increase to $2.94 billion.

Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 229.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,816 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 38,854 shares during the quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $27,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 28,325,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $11,406,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,993 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $11,388,985,000 after purchasing an additional 232,873 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,428,951 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,199,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,746 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,454,373,000 after purchasing an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,833,889 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,141,277,000 after purchasing an additional 317,058 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wolfe Research cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $442.00 to $438.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX traded up $8.15 on Wednesday, hitting $395.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,913,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,284,947. The company has a market capitalization of $101.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30 and a beta of 0.44. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $447.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $464.48.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.