Van ECK Associates Corp Has $64.14 Million Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 159,269 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,841 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.06% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $64,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VRTX. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $435,899,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,136,000 after acquiring an additional 528,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $505.96.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $462.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $435.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $461.79. The company has a market cap of $119.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -232.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. On average, equities analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.