Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 11,423 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 426,523 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,423 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $190,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $476.31 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $533.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $459.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $458.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.06 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.