Schroder Investment Management Group Has $65.35 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Schroder Investment Management Group lessened its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 42,151 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $65,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $1,510,000. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,486,000 after buying an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,324,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,630,000 after buying an additional 12,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at $29,438,776.43. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $484.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $124.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -220.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $477.71 and its 200 day moving average is $463.68. 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 (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.