Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 550,600 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,646 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $249,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,695,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,462 shares of company stock worth $6,095,195. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $445.77 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $507.92. The stock has a market cap of $113.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $437.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $452.16.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $542.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twenty-two 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.91.

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.