American National Bank & Trust Increases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 515.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 80 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,917,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,414,331,000 after buying an additional 1,226,527 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $484,053,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,062,442 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,454,373,000 after acquiring an additional 744,680 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,775,194 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $860,650,000 after acquiring an additional 398,460 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 456.9% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 431,804 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $209,347,000 after acquiring an additional 354,269 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $411.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $515.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $494.00 to $455.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.81.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $385.73 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The firm has a market cap of $98.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $406.00 and its 200 day moving average is $446.27.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.91% and a net margin of 31.86%.The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($12.83) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $389.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,948,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,535,600. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.