Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Acquired by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 676,247 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,104 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $335,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,613,209,000 after purchasing an additional 35,069 shares during the period. Fox Hill Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $312,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $230,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $8,466,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $2,869,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VRTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $653.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $569.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $546.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.32. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $374.17 and a 52-week high of $560.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $509.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $471.33.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 35.00%.The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents 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 8,719 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,147 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.