William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 39,139 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6,566.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 39,735 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,139 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $18,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,435,000 after acquiring an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,695,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $434.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $110.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $440.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $451.11. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The company 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%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $580.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the sale, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 668 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total transaction of $324,881.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,964,403.20. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 21,189 shares of company stock worth $9,923,036 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.