Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Takes $3.26 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,258,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Community Financial Services Group LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $548.05 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $374.17 and a 12 month high of $555.32. The stock has a market cap of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $492.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $465.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current 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.