Nuveen LLC Invests $484.05 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 998,418 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,053,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.39% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 98,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $39,784,000 after buying an additional 28,240 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 17,127 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,897,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $925,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,902 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,404,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group set a $553.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $497.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $366.54 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $364.66 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $450.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $465.95. The company has a market capitalization of $93.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 0.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($12.83) EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.