UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,441,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 142,859 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.95% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $1,135,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after purchasing an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,422,677 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,135,556,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,626,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $756,381,000 after purchasing an additional 20,361 shares during the period. Finally, Edgewood Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after buying an additional 1,526,983 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $504.38.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $464.56 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $473.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $474.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $346.29 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -233.45 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.