Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 4,535 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90,762 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,535 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $44,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aries Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $293,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,954,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,421 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $486,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $439.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $485.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $497.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Bruce I. Sachs bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $389.68 per share, with a total value of $1,948,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,535,600. This represents a 12.50% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.2%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $374.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $96.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $449.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $465.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($12.83) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.