Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX is Provident Investment Management Inc.’s 4th Largest Position

Provident Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,406 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,301 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 5.3% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Provident Investment Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $60,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,593,974,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,836,550,000 after buying an additional 2,053,156 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $299,097,000 after buying an additional 520,949 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after buying an additional 482,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,482,978,000 after buying an additional 444,990 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $462.49 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $516.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $470.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $439.49.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $570.00 to $596.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $553.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total transaction of $2,394,361.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,562,646.35. The trade was a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,485 shares of company stock valued at $43,967,586. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.