V Square Quantitative Management LLC Invests $2.55 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,624 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,836,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,156 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 214.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 763,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $299,097,000 after buying an additional 520,949 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,553,281 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,482,978,000 after buying an additional 444,990 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after acquiring an additional 424,808 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1,373.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 361,085 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $140,119,000 after acquiring an additional 336,573 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 2,021 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $930,529.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,914 shares in the company, valued at $5,945,993.02. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,562,646.35. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,431 shares of company stock valued at $37,875,167. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $554.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $443.92 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $510.77. The company has a market capitalization of $112.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $465.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $445.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.