Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,522 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,299 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $13,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $1,440,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after buying an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $166,317,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $149,291,000 after buying an additional 319,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $485.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $462.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $459.00. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last three months. Company 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.