National Pension Service Sells 61,129 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

National Pension Service decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 497,800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 61,129 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $221,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,933,000. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $721,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,059,000. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 58,077 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,856,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 53.6% during the 2nd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 5,976 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $434.19 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68. The company has a market cap of $110.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.04 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $406.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $428.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.38 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VRTX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $553.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $489.10.

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.