Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 6.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 94,794 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $44,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $14,198,300.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.72, for a total transaction of $1,075,521.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,198,300.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $472.00 to $509.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $464.92 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $482.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.40. The company has a market cap of $119.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $341.85 and a 12 month high of $510.64.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The business’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 posted $3.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.