OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Acquires Shares of 1,233 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 96.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 997 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 79,429 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,941,000 after purchasing an additional 4,269 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,462,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,046,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $510.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -231.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $466.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $462.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. On average, research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $503.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

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.