Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Takes Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 31,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,182,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,836,550,000 after buying an additional 2,053,156 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,482,978,000 after buying an additional 444,990 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $149,291,000 after buying an additional 319,725 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,484,293,000 after buying an additional 243,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $94,958,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.17.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $486.35, for a total value of $324,881.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,964,403.20. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 79,802 shares of company stock valued at $37,402,568. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $434.31 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $507.92. The stock has a market cap of $110.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $444.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $450.83.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.