Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires New Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 35,829 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,999,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,771,226,000 after buying an additional 144,266 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 6.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $528.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $134.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $529.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $447.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $455.95.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly 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. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Maxim Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 15,833 shares of company stock worth $7,120,702 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.