Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock Holdings Increased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,916,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,117,214 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 2.30% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $2,382,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,258,288 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,366,113,000 after acquiring an additional 98,654 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,772,789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,519,302,000 after buying an additional 704,575 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,374,948,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,170,506,000 after buying an additional 100,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $433.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $492.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $126.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -223.95, 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 company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $476.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current 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.