Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $289.14 Million Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 710,616 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 968 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $289,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Maxim Group cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $424.62.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $577,409.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,242.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $577,409.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,066,242.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $396.55 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.78, a current ratio of 3.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $316.43 and a 12-month high of $448.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $416.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $396.14. The company has a market capitalization of $102.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.