Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Holdings Raised by Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Exencial Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Vertex by 1,392.1%, buying an additional 20,882 shares to hold 22,382 shares worth about $10.15 million, and institutional investors now own 90.96% of the company.
• Research firms collectively rate Vertex a Moderate Buy with an average target of $555, and multiple banks recently raised price targets (e.g., BofA to $598, HC Wainwright to $641; Jefferies started coverage with a $580 buy rating).
• Vertex reported Q4 EPS of $5.03 (missed by $0.02) and revenue of $3.19B (slightly above estimates), while insiders sold about $37.9 million of stock in the past three months and now own 0.20% of shares.

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 1,392.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,382 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 20,882 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,836,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,156 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,482,978,000 after purchasing an additional 444,990 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,373.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 361,085 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $140,119,000 after purchasing an additional 336,573 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $149,291,000 after purchasing an additional 319,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,484,293,000 after purchasing an additional 243,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $580.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.00.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $426.01 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $510.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $456.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Jonathan Biller sold 945 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $459,600.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,659 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,643,054.65. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 620 shares of the firm'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 $301,537.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 7,284 shares in the company, valued at $3,542,573.40. This represents a 7.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,431 shares of company stock worth $37,875,167. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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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