Smith Group Asset Management LLC Purchases 3,695 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,746 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,695 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $24,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after acquiring an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,440,149,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,739,600. This represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $490.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $533.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $467.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $459.99.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.