St. Louis Trust Co Makes New $552,000 Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

St. Louis Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTXFree Report) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,218 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Capital International Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,836,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,482,978,000 after acquiring an additional 444,990 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $149,291,000 after acquiring an additional 319,725 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,484,293,000 after acquiring an additional 243,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 184.3% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 362,774 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $142,077,000 after acquiring an additional 235,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’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 value 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. The trade was a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 21,189 shares of company stock valued at $9,923,036 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Maxim Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.17.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on VRTX

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $434.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $441.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.85. The firm has a market cap of $110.28 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTXGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX)

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