National Bank of Canada FI Has $97.14 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 90.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,397 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,007 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $97,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,983,356 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,644,492,000 after purchasing an additional 87,397 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,944,913 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,605,146,000 after acquiring an additional 147,248 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,870,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $998,050,000 after acquiring an additional 89,217 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,813,563 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $978,388,000 after purchasing an additional 131,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,016,780 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $701,315,000 after acquiring an additional 67,451 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 2,656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $419.51, for a total transaction of $1,114,218.56. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 27,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,596,934.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock worth $5,203,249. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.86.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $401.08. 1,064,066 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,004,237. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $320.01 and a one year high of $448.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $409.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $400.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.66 billion, a PE ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.