15,009 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. decreased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 18.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,573 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 15,009 shares during the quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $35,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,975,849,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,896,910,000 after purchasing an additional 141,320 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,613,209,000 after purchasing an additional 35,069 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,086,683 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,533,248,000 after purchasing an additional 29,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $1,509,651,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $665.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Evercore lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $596.44.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $538.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $136.56 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $412.27 and a fifty-two week high of $568.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $522.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $483.84.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($0.06). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.98% and a net margin of 30.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1989, it develops medicines for serious diseases, with a long-standing focus on cystic fibrosis (CF). Vertex’s CF treatments include medicines that target the underlying protein defect, such as Trikafta/Kaftrio, Alyftrek, Kalydeco, Orkambi and Symdeko/Symkevi. The company also markets Journavx, a non-opioid medicine for acute pain, and partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics to develop Casgevy, a gene-editing treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.