Rakuten Securities Inc. Takes $173,000 Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 424 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $173,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted 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 worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Baystate Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted 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 acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 4,375 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.45.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. 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 the firm’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 $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $393.10 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $396.76. 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 Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $316.43 and a fifty-two week high of $448.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 36.68% and a return on equity of 21.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 earnings per share 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.