Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Acquired by ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

Key Points

• ABN AMRO Bank N.V. increased its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, holding 155,221 shares valued at about $70.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds continue to dominate ownership, controlling about 90.96% of the stock.
• Vertex reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.47 beating estimates of $4.24 and revenue of $2.99 billion matching expectations. Revenue rose 8.3% year over year, and analysts now expect full-year EPS of 16.96.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on VRTX, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.17. However, insiders sold shares during the quarter, including notable sales by executives Amit Sachdev and Duncan Mckechnie.

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,350 shares during the quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. owned about 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $70,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,484,293,000 after acquiring an additional 243,088 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,482,978,000 after acquiring an additional 444,990 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,836,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,156 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,771,226,000 after acquiring an additional 144,266 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,276,927 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $891,744,000 after acquiring an additional 95,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $429.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $109.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $507.92. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $450.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $449.78.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $27,479,532.79. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. This trade represents a 49.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total transaction of $2,394,361.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,562,646.35. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 81,853 shares of company stock valued at $38,479,135. 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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