Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Purchased by DNB Asset Management AS

Key Points

• DNB Asset Management AS increased its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 25.4% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 24,271 shares and bringing its total to 119,685 shares valued at about $54.3 million.
• Institutional interest in Vertex remains strong, with several large investors increasing positions and about 90.96% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Vertex reported quarterly earnings of $4.47 EPS, beating estimates, while revenue came in at $2.99 billion and rose 8.3% year over year; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $555.17.

DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,685 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,271 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $54,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Capital International Investors raised its position 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 worth $1,836,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position 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 worth $6,482,978,000 after purchasing an additional 444,990 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position 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 worth $149,291,000 after purchasing an additional 319,725 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $9,484,293,000 after purchasing an additional 243,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $94,958,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 79,802 shares of company stock worth $37,402,568 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $590.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $436.95 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $507.92. The company has a market cap of $110.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $445.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $450.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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