Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock: Provident Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position

Key Points

• Provident Investment Management reduced its Vertex Pharmaceuticals position by 6.5% in the third quarter, selling 9,151 shares. It still held 131,577 shares worth approximately $68.8 million, representing 6.9% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 90.96%, while several other investment firms modestly increased their Vertex stakes.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $579.81. Vertex’s latest quarterly revenue rose 12.5% year over year to $3.33 billion, though EPS narrowly missed estimates.

Provident Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,577 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 9,151 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up about 6.9% of Provident Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Provident Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.05% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $68,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 4,470 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,220,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 793 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $850,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $885,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 510 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 17th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $560.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $579.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $523.93 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $403.16 and a 1 year high of $560.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $523.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $483.59. The company has a market cap of $132.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.28.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.74 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company applies expertise in the science of human disease to discover therapies that address significant unmet medical needs.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko/Symkevi, and Trikafta/Kaftrio. These medicines target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis for patients with specific mutations in the CFTR gene.

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