Calamos Advisors LLC Buys 33,917 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Calamos Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 77.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,917 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $34,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,417,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 valued at $202,612,000 after acquiring an additional 86,084 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,021 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 832,853 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,582,000 after acquiring an additional 69,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 63,945 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,043,000 after purchasing an additional 6,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $480.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $121.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $533.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $458.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $458.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the sale, 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 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. Insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Maxim Group raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

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.