American Century Companies Inc. Has $274.82 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 15.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 586,322 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 108,572 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $274,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.3% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,530 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 3,556 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total transaction of $1,888,216.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at $4,987,006. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $485.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $474.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $341.85 and a one year high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The business’s fifty day moving average is $483.33 and its 200-day moving average is $449.55.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.85 EPS for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.