AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases New Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 226,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,282,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Founders Capital Management raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 75 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total value of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total value of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,710 shares of company stock valued at $3,298,206 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5 %

VRTX traded down $2.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $472.86. 170,162 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,160,301. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -234.03 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $341.90 and a 12-month high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $474.81 and a 200 day moving average of $463.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $480.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $492.50.

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.