Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Makes New $18.99 Million Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 38,230 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,990,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 414.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,036 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,363,000 after acquiring an additional 11,306 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 77,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,779,000 after acquiring an additional 33,917 shares during the last quarter. Sandro Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,436,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.9% in the first quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. now owns 34,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,625,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda America Inc bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,911,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $505.75 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $374.17 and a twelve month high of $546.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $483.26 and a 200-day moving average of $463.67.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.