Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases 241,242 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 103.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 474,822 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241,242 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 2.4% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC owned 0.19% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $187,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 26,149 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,241,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.5% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,373.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 361,085 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,119,000 after buying an additional 336,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,956 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,508,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $503.80.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $454.67 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68. The company has a market capitalization of $115.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $444.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.26.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total transaction of $4,394,252.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,225. This represents a 20.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 165,105 shares of company stock worth $73,858,523. Corporate 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.