Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Takes Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 9,613 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,775,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $538,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $20,279,000. George Kaiser Family Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $306,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,298,000. Finally, TRB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $353,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $548.05 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $492.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $465.88. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $374.17 and a twelve month high of $555.32. The firm has a market cap of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRTX. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $563.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares in the company, valued at $7,628,850. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.