Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Acquired by Sepio Capital LP

Key Points

• Sepio Capital LP has increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.6%, now holding 8,360 shares worth approximately $4.05 million.
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported $4.52 earnings per share for its recent quarter, exceeding expectations and achieving an 11.3% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.94 billion.
• 90.96% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals' stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Sepio Capital LP boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 18.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,360 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aries Wealth Management bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $293,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,954,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 45.0% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $486,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRTX. Erste Group Bank lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $411.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $553.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded up $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $396.48. The stock had a trading volume of 946,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,480,506. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $426.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.19. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($12.83) earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate 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.