Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 386,648 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,747 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $161,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 12th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $460.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.46, for a total transaction of $1,113,688.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,474,779.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.46, for a total transaction of $1,113,688.80. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,474,779.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 15,202 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.00, for a total transaction of $7,555,394.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,767,484. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,128 shares of company stock worth $22,839,005. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6 %

VRTX stock traded up $3.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $495.26. The company had a trading volume of 774,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,047,785. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $340.20 and a 1 year high of $503.99. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $127.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $474.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $437.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.