424 Shares in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Purchased by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 424 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $173,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $457.00 to $462.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $371.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $393.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $316.43 and a 1 year high of $448.40. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $414.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $396.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78.

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

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.