Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 66,341 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 299.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,499 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,341 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $39,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,417,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 447,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $202,612,000 after acquiring an additional 86,084 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 130.2% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,341 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,021 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 832,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $377,582,000 after acquiring an additional 69,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 63,945 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,043,000 after acquiring an additional 6,045 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price objective on the stock. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.09.

Key Stories Impacting 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 Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $485.39 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $533.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $457.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $458.32. The company has a market capitalization of $123.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.