Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 14,165 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 14,165 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,036,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $500.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,400,102.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value 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 $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $548.05 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $374.17 and a 52 week high of $555.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $492.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $465.92. The firm has a market cap of $139.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

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.