Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Buys Shares of 436 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 436 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after acquiring an additional 837,461 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $257,655,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total transaction of $2,689,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,320,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,005 shares of company stock worth $5,988,066 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $431.00 to $425.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $492.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $470.05 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $341.90 and a fifty-two week high of $510.64. The company has a market capitalization of $121.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.50 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $475.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $461.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.53 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.