Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $10.22 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co trimmed its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,377 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 2,204 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $10,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,510,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 55,838 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $22,486,000 after purchasing an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,771 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,324,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 61,161 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $24,630,000 after buying an additional 12,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 75.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.3 %

VRTX stock traded down $14.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $435.31. 1,818,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,373,741. The company has a market cap of $111.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -197.71, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. The firm's 50-day moving average is $491.94 and its 200-day moving average is $466.80. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.76 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VRTX. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.04.

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.