Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Bought by Banque Pictet & Cie SA

Banque Pictet & Cie SA raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 174.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,328 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 15,470 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $11,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Five Oceans Advisors purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 12,665 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,742,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 1,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Truist Financial raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $554.30.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total transaction of $2,394,361.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,559 shares in the company, valued at $8,562,646.35. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 93,485 shares of company stock valued at $43,967,586 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $447.26 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $510.77. The company has a market cap of $113.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.18, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $468.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $443.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.