Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Capital International Sarl

Capital International Sarl grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,592 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 25,544 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 1.6% of Capital International Sarl’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Capital International Sarl owned 0.07% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $67,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 369,354 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $148,739,000 after acquiring an additional 85,350 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,505,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 60,864 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $1,216,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $489.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a PE ratio of -222.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $465.07. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.