Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Cooper Financial Group

Key Points

• Cooper Financial Group has reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 3,644 shares worth approximately $1.62 million.
• Various institutional investors have increased their positions in Vertex, with Price T Rowe Associates growing its stake by 72.5% in Q1, contributing to institutional ownership reaching 90.96% of the stock.
• Analysts have varied expectations for Vertex, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target average around $493.81.

Cooper Financial Group reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,644 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 993 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $484,053,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after buying an additional 744,680 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,775,194 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $860,650,000 after buying an additional 398,460 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 456.9% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 431,804 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $209,347,000 after buying an additional 354,269 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9%

VRTX stock opened at $391.64 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $403.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $444.73. The stock has a market cap of $100.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99 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.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($12.83) earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.

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