Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Sells 7,980 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ cut its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,846 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,980 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $37,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,771,226,000 after acquiring an additional 144,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 1,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.17, for a total transaction of $471,413.40. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,754.61. This represents a 6.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 16,215 shares of company stock worth $7,272,420 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $499.65 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $443.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $454.68. The company has a market cap of $126.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.