Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Holdings Boosted by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,274 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 4,017 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after acquiring an additional 98,654 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $731,283,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $502.55 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $377.85 and a one year high of $519.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $475.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $463.61. The company has a market capitalization of $129.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -228.43, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a biotechnology company, engages in developing and commercializing therapies for treating cystic fibrosis (CF). It markets TRIKAFTA/KAFTRIO for people with CF with at least one F508del mutation for 2 years of age or older; SYMDEKO/SYMKEVI for people with CF for 6 years of age or older; ORKAMBI for CF patients 1 year or older; and KALYDECO for the treatment of patients with 1 year or older who have CF with ivacaftor.