Ascent Group LLC Trims Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Ascent Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,652 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,491,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,388,985,000 after acquiring an additional 232,873 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after acquiring an additional 744,680 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,953,512 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,916,742,000 after acquiring an additional 33,492 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,559,476 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,240,885,000 after acquiring an additional 230,257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $405.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $493.81.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $403.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $399.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $442.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($12.83) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 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.