Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New $94.96 Million Investment in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 242,462 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,958,000. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up about 0.3% of Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,673,126,000 after purchasing an additional 482,616 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after buying an additional 1,089,063 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,627,135,000 after buying an additional 166,987 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.7% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,378,320 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,949,228,000 after buying an additional 424,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,813,378 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,697,716,000 after acquiring an additional 65,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 9,532 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $461.00, for a total transaction of $4,394,252.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,391,225. This trade represents a 20.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,088,752.07. The trade was a 9.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 165,105 shares of company stock valued at $73,858,523 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.2%

VRTX stock opened at $442.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $447.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.90. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18 and a beta of 0.31.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.58 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 23.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $423.00 to $415.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $517.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $503.80.

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.