Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,221,953 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 102,846 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,007,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after buying an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after buying an additional 83,539 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,146,041,000 after buying an additional 44,537 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,771,226,000 after buying an additional 144,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after buying an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $458.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $507.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $438.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares in the company, valued at $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,195 shares of company stock worth $6,801,006. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Maxim Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.