Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Stock: Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Cuts Holdings

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,410 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,820 shares during the quarter. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $11,975,849,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,871,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,896,910,000 after acquiring an additional 141,320 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,247,658 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,613,209,000 after acquiring an additional 35,069 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,086,683 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,533,248,000 after acquiring an additional 29,287 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,509,651,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock opened at $558.88 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $141.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.28. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $403.16 and a 12 month high of $563.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $523.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $479.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $570.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $555.00 to $556.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $653.00 target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $579.81.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a global biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company applies expertise in the science of human disease to discover therapies that address significant unmet medical needs.

Vertex is best known for its cystic fibrosis portfolio, which includes Kalydeco, Orkambi, Symdeko/Symkevi, and Trikafta/Kaftrio. These medicines target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis for patients with specific mutations in the CFTR gene.