50,988 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Bought by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 50,988 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,327,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 414.1% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,036 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,363,000 after purchasing an additional 11,306 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% in the first quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,779,000 after purchasing an additional 33,917 shares during the last quarter. Sandro Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,436,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% during the first quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 34,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,625,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda America Inc bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,911,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,628,850. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock opened at $515.55 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $374.17 and a 52 week high of $546.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $484.71 and its 200 day moving average is $463.96. The firm has a market cap of $130.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.