Eastern Bank Grows Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,635 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,527 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $484,053,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,454,373,000 after purchasing an additional 744,680 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,775,194 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $860,650,000 after purchasing an additional 398,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 456.9% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 431,804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $209,347,000 after purchasing an additional 354,269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,535,600. This trade represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 11th. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $407.79 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $393.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $439.18. The company has a market cap of $104.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($12.83) earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

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.