Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Vertex by 0.5%, selling 111,042 shares and still holding 24,105,823 shares — about 9.50% of the company valued at roughly $10.93 billion, while institutional investors own ~90.96% of the stock.
• Vertex reported quarterly EPS of $5.03 (missing estimates by $0.02) and revenue of $3.19 billion, up 9.5% year-over-year, with the stock trading near $430 and a market cap of about $109.5 billion.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive — MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $555, supported by multiple firms raising price targets and the majority of analyst ratings at Buy.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,105,823 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 111,042 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.50% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $10,928,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

VRTX opened at $430.42 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $457.85 and its 200-day moving average is $448.83. The stock has a market cap of $109.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.36. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $510.77.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $577.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 7,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,542,573.40. The trade was a 7.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 978 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.17, for a total value of $439,288.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,833 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,806,728.61. The trade was a 4.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 80,431 shares of company stock valued at $37,875,167 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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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