OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Has $8.39 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 21.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,318 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 545 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 1,155 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 730 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Spears LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $477.36 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $533.67. The company has a market capitalization of $121.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $465.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.87.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total transaction of $134,746.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.