Candriam S.C.A. Has $102.22 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 228,915 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,623 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $102,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after acquiring an additional 83,539 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after acquiring an additional 44,537 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,771,226,000 after acquiring an additional 144,266 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Maxim Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vertex’s $10 billion acquisition of Crinetics is being seen as a major expansion move that could add future growth drivers beyond its core cystic fibrosis business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Vertex as a strong long-term compounder, with articles pointing to its decade-long stock performance and durable earnings power. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on Vertex as one of the best QQQ stocks emphasized the July 1 FDA expansion for CASGEVY, which strengthened the company’s gene-therapy growth story. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Additional biotech commentary has kept Vertex in focus as one of the sector’s more attractive names, reinforcing investor interest in the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data was reported at zero shares, which does not provide a meaningful trading signal and is unlikely to move the stock on its own.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several other biotech articles mentioned Vertex only in passing or as part of broader sector coverage, with limited direct impact on VRTX.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $485.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $123.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.33. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 EPS 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.