Here’s Why Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (VRTX) Outperformed in the Third Quarter

Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Value Fund” third quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the third quarter, the fund underperformed its benchmark index. Its Investor Class fund ARTLX returned -7.04%, Advisor Class fund APDLX posted a return of -7.07%, and Institutional Class fund APHLX returned -7.06% in the quarter, compared to a -5.62% return for the Russell 1000 Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2022.

In the third-quarter letter, Artisan Partners discussed stocks like Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX). Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) is a biotechnology company. On November 14, 2022, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)  stock closed at $306.03 per share. One-month return of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) was 3.03% and its shares gained 63.78% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has a market capitalization of $78.555 billion.

Artisan Partners made the following comment about Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in its Q3 2022 investor letter:

“Biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) dominates the market for treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) with limited competition. In addition to solid growth in CF revenues that has driven better-than-expected results, positive progress in its development pipeline has lifted shares. At the time of our Q2 2021 purchase, the stock was under pressure due to regulatory hurdles and Vertex’s decision not to pursue late-stage development of VX-864 after an unexpectedly unfavorable outcome. VX-864 is designed to treat alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), which is an inherited disorder with a strong correlation to pediatric liver disease. Irrespective of Vertex’s AATD pipeline, the company has nearly two decades of patent protection remaining for its CF franchise. Management maintains a healthy reserve of cash and is focusing on research and development. We believe near-term growth is likely to be driven by Vertex’s expanding geographic presence and expansion of medicines to lower age groups, with long-term gains arising from the company’s diversifying pipeline.”

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 45 hedge fund portfolios held Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) at the end of the second quarter, which was 49 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in another article and shared ClearBridge Investments’ views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2022 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.