Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 6,421 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,824 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,440,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after buying an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $166,317,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $149,291,000 after acquiring an additional 319,725 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Vertex Pharmaceuticals News

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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX traded down $11.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $485.39. 1,430,186 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,935,645. The company has a market cap of $123.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $533.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $457.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $458.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on VRTX. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price target for the company. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $557.09.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.