Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. Sells 5,421 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. trimmed its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,421 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up 1.5% of Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 118.8% during the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 70 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 74 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $446.83 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $507.92. The firm has a market cap of $113.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $437.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $451.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.06 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,739,600. The trade was a 21.13% 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 sold a total of 11,717 shares of company stock valued at $5,309,945 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.