Swiss National Bank Acquires 1,200 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 766,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $356,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,213,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,008,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $498,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $465.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a PE ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $476.39 and its 200 day moving average is $471.60.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.