National Pension Service Boosts Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 539,530 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 7,461 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $268,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $3,568,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 414.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,036 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after acquiring an additional 11,306 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,779,000 after acquiring an additional 33,917 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda America Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $1,911,000. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 34,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,625,000 after acquiring an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $521.12 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $511.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $472.59. The stock has a market cap of $132.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $374.17 and a 1 year high of $560.25.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its 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). 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 period last year, the company posted $4.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $569.52.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the 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 sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at $7,400,102.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan McKechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,719 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,147. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company combines research in human genetics with drug discovery and development.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes CFTR modulator therapies such as Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko and the combination marketed as Trikafta in the United States and Kaftrio in other markets.