Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 80.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,185 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 195,277 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $21,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,484,293,000 after purchasing an additional 243,088 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,522,586 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,771,226,000 after purchasing an additional 144,266 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $541.00 to $543.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $591.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Maxim Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 1,745 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $785,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 21,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,456,750. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,133 shares of company stock valued at $4,973,106. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of VRTX opened at $450.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $437.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.67. The company has a market capitalization of $114.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.