Westpac Banking Corp Invests $1.30 Million in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,614 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VRTX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $11,975,849,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,440,149,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $26,725,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $830,842,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $784,391,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% 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. Insiders have sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

VRTX opened at $548.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $139.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $374.17 and a 52 week high of $555.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $492.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.92.

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