Brighton Jones LLC Reduces Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Brighton Jones LLC lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 29.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,862 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs purchased 5,000 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $421.39 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $398.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $434.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial set a $490.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Leerink Partnrs raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $442.00 to $438.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.38.

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.