Prudential Financial Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,381 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.07% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $80,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Truist Financial set a $490.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Leerink Partners upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $458.00 to $456.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $491.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 53,604 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.72, for a total value of $23,624,354.88. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,588,738.72. The trade was a 69.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $426.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $108.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $411.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.00. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.68.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.38 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.