AIA Group Ltd Has $7.57 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,600 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in 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. Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,020 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Arjuna Capital grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 4,375 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $2.55 on Thursday, hitting $395.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 611,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,240,354. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $396.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $316.43 and a 1 year high of $448.40. The company has a market capitalization of $102.26 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.