Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Increases Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 91,088 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 17,200 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $40,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $32,000. American National Bank & Trust lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 515.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 80 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on VRTX. Citigroup raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $442.00 to $438.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $490.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX opened at $420.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $399.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $433.85. The firm has a market cap of $107.73 billion, a PE ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

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

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.