Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 363,278 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.14% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $146,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Investment House LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Investment House LLC now owns 945 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 15,225 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,080,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,512 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $497,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 48,507 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,534,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $512.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $464.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $462.31. The stock has a market cap of $131.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total transaction of $251,930.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average 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.