Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,870,015 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $928,893,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $547.59 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.46. The company has a market cap of $138.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $374.17 and a 1 year high of $555.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

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.