AMF Tjanstepension AB Reduces Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

AMF Tjanstepension AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,100 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,605 shares during the quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after purchasing an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,627,135,000 after buying an additional 166,987 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,697,716,000 after buying an additional 65,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2%

VRTX opened at $468.41 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $449.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.21. The company has a market capitalization of $118.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.03 and a beta of 0.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $455.00 to $546.00 in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. This represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total transaction of $4,394,252.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,391,225. This represents a 20.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 165,105 shares of company stock worth $73,858,523. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.