BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $184.18 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 396,019 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,591 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.15% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $184,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 269.4% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,269,000 after acquiring an additional 9,193 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,709 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,228 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 20.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,939,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $480.00 to $486.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $499.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,987,006. The trade was a 27.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,445 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,394 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $451.23 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $475.38 and a 200-day moving average of $472.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $346.29 and a 52 week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 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.