State Street Corp Has $5.90 Billion Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,320 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 4.68% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $5,896,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in 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 buying an additional 763,063 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,613,209,000 after buying an additional 35,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,086,683 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,533,248,000 after acquiring an additional 29,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan McKechnie sold 1,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 3,637 shares of company stock worth $1,874,834 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $11.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $522.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 573,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,393,412. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $374.17 and a twelve month high of $560.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $512.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $474.33. The company has a market capitalization of $132.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $665.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $560.00 price target (up from $515.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $573.83.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company combines research in human genetics with drug discovery and development.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes CFTR modulator therapies such as Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko and the combination marketed as Trikafta in the United States and Kaftrio in other markets.