Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 2.9%, selling 17,549 shares and retaining 594,358 shares valued at approximately $310.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.96% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $579.81; 24 analysts rate the stock a Buy, one rates it a Strong Buy, and three assign a Hold.
• Vertex shares opened at $558.88 after rising 3.5%, near their 12-month high of $563.80. The company’s latest quarterly revenue rose 12.5% year over year to $3.33 billion, though EPS of $4.73 narrowly missed estimates.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 594,358 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 17,549 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $310,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $3,568,000. Calamos Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% during the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,779,000 after acquiring an additional 33,917 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $13,823,000. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $4,495,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $3,187,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $556.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $585.00 to $615.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $579.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $558.88 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $403.16 and a twelve month high of $563.80. The stock has a market cap of $141.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $523.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $479.47.

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