KBC Group NV Purchases 9,685 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

KBC Group NV grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 11.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 96,727 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 9,685 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $44,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings 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 valued at $10,687,339,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761,414 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,401,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,218 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $277,317,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $257,655,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,676,518 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,479,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 target price (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.2 %

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $483.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.63 billion, a PE ratio of -243.20 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $341.90 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $476.13 and a 200-day moving average of $470.48.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.