Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases Shares of 355,082 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 355,082 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,380,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.14% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $563.50.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $547.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $138.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $498.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $467.66. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $374.17 and a 1-year high of $555.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.