Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Position Cut by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,772,042 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 41,344 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,868,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,484,293,000 after acquiring an additional 243,088 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,482,978,000 after purchasing an additional 444,990 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,836,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after purchasing an additional 424,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,697,716,000 after purchasing an additional 65,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

More Vertex Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several major analysts raised coverage and targets for VRTX, boosting bullish sentiment and shorter-term buying interest. Oppenheimer Raises Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Price Target to $600.00
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades translated into intraday strength earlier in the week (shares traded notably higher on upgrade headlines), signaling renewed investor appetite. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Trading 9.9% Higher on Analyst Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: New research coverage from Jefferies adds another channel for institutional visibility and could support longer-term demand. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group
• Positive Sentiment: Retail and media interest has picked up — headlines highlighting a recent ~8% jump are drawing attention from momentum traders. This helps explain recent volume spikes and short-term volatility. This Stock Just Jumped By 8%: Is It Too Late to Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: “Trending stock” write-ups from Zacks/Yahoo summarize catalysts and risks for new readers; useful for context but unlikely to move price by themselves. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyses that list reasons to watch VRTX (growth from cystic fibrosis and extending franchises) and one caution help frame investor decisions but don’t introduce a new catalyst. 2 Reasons to Watch VRTX and 1 to Stay Cautious
• Neutral Sentiment: Long-term performance pieces and market-focus coverage provide background on investor returns and index attention; helpful for positioning but not immediate drivers. If You Invested $1000 In Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock 20 Years Ago…
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the upgrades, the stock has retraced from the immediate highs — recent intraday declines and a prior small earnings EPS miss (Feb quarter EPS slightly below consensus) leave some investors taking profits. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $411.00 to $441.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $553.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $469.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $470.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.31. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 42,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. The trade was a 9.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total value of $27,479,532.79. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. This trade represents a 49.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 91,156 shares of company stock worth $42,845,497 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.