Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd Invests $2.54 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,105 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,536,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after buying an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,628,850. The trade was a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on VRTX. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $548.05 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $465.88. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $374.17 and a fifty-two week high of $555.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.