Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,460 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,593,974,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $299,097,000 after purchasing an additional 520,949 shares in 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 valued at $10,673,126,000 after acquiring an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew 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 valued at $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 14,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.00, for a total transaction of $6,384,000.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the company’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 directly owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $470.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $119.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $519.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $458.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRTX. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $414.00 to $606.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $522.68.

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.