Man Group plc Invests $69.16 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 139,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,161,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,975,849,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after acquiring an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VRTX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $552.85 on Wednesday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $374.17 and a 12 month high of $555.69. The company has a market cap of $140.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $496.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.