Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $10.88 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 27,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,876,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after purchasing an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after buying an additional 1,089,063 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,627,135,000 after buying an additional 166,987 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,697,716,000 after buying an additional 65,047 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $455.00 to $445.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $455.00 to $546.00 in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 5th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $468.41 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $449.07 and a 200 day moving average of $427.48. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.84 billion, a PE ratio of 33.03 and a beta of 0.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.58 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 31.35%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.38 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. The trade was a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the sale, the chairman owned 24,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 165,105 shares of company stock worth $73,858,523 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.