Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Holdings Lowered by Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 17.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,052 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,388,985,000 after buying an additional 232,873 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,454,373,000 after buying an additional 744,680 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,953,512 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,916,742,000 after purchasing an additional 33,492 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,414,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,559,476 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,240,885,000 after purchasing an additional 230,257 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. UBS Group set a $553.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $530.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $394.53 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $422.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $453.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.20 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($12.83) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.