OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Has $8.39 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,318 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 68 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $3,144,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their position. 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 sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $477.36 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $533.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $465.77 and its 200-day moving average is $459.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.