Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 44.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,899 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,417 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,435,000 after acquiring an additional 20,053 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $64,417,000. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,695,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $555.17.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $429.82 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $450.45 and its 200-day moving average is $449.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $507.92. The company has a market cap of $109.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.06 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,562,646.35. The trade was a 21.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total transaction of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,057,774.95. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 81,853 shares of company stock worth $38,479,135. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.