Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 351 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,987 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,020 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,050,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 4,375 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

VRTX stock opened at $393.10 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $414.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $396.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $316.43 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40. The firm has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.78 and a current ratio of 3.99.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares in the company, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.