Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Holdings Lifted by National Pension Service

National Pension Service increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 512,113 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,313 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.20% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $200,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,593,974,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 520,949 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after acquiring an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after acquiring an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on VRTX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $455.00 to $546.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $414.00 to $606.00 in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $469.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $453.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68. The company has a market capitalization of $119.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14 and a beta of 0.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. The trade was a 72.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total value of $6,384,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,202,600. The trade was a 27.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.