Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 718,410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 7,794 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.28% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $300,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $528,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 829 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,476 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,997 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 2,654 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7 %

VRTX stock opened at $470.28 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $447.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.70. The company has a market capitalization of $121.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $335.82 and a 12 month high of $486.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $448.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,920,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,366 shares of company stock valued at $13,058,787. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.