Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,600,473 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 111,192 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.62% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $712,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 450.0% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 515.4% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 80 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $510.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $492.10.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $426.00 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $402.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.13. The company has a market cap of $109.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.45 and a beta of 0.43. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($12.83) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.