Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 6,648 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 214,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,648 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.08% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $95,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $264,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 1,753 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Finally, Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 53,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $440.72, for a total value of $23,624,354.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at $10,588,738.72. This represents a 69.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $422.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $410.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $425.75. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.19 and a beta of 0.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $558.00 to $546.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $458.00 to $456.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $491.95.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.