Danske Bank A S Acquires New Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 158,064 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,515,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 worth $4,959,397. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $528.19 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $374.17 and a 1 year high of $546.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $486.36 and its 200-day moving average is $464.31. The stock has a market cap of $134.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.