Achmea Investment Management B.V. Has $17.15 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,590 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 13,644 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,999,080,000 after purchasing an additional 837,461 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,237,877,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VRTX. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $474.74 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $341.85 and a twelve month high of $510.64. The company has a quick ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $449.55. The company has a market cap of $122.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.81 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total value of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,320,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.