Carmignac Gestion Has $81 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Carmignac Gestion increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 163,045 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,846 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up 1.0% of Carmignac Gestion’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Carmignac Gestion’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $81,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50,904.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 190,491,484 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,622,835,000 after acquiring an additional 190,118,003 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,975,849,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,440,149,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,509,651,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $928,893,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan McKechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% 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 a total of 8,719 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,147 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. 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 note on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $665.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $569.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $17.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $528.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,121,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,417,738. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $510.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.81. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $374.17 and a 52 week high of $560.25. The stock has a market cap of $134.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current 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.