Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Grows Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,914 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,856 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.8% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 455 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 154.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 1,700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $423,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX stock opened at $481.01 on Tuesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $519.68. The firm has a market cap of $122.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $429.57.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $540.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total value of $28,650,425.20. Following the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at $20,088,752.07. This represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 100,852 shares of company stock worth $45,787,299 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.