Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Foster Group Inc.

Foster Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 12.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 462 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Avanza Fonder AB boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 25,425 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the last quarter. Atle Fund Management AB raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atle Fund Management AB now owns 24,328 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the second quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,310,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 16.4% in the second quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $383.13 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $412.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $449.11.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued 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 return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($12.83) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on VRTX. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.