Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires 23,726 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 193,959 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 23,726 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.08% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $86,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,933,000. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $721,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,378,000 after buying an additional 1,393 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,983,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $10,059,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $455.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $422.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $425.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,202,600. This represents a 27.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 151,073 shares of company stock worth $67,326,816. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on VRTX. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $498.25.

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.