Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $35.99 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 289.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,393 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 57,497 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $35,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 104.5% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 137 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 107.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,555 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,592,000 after acquiring an additional 10,624 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 5,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,236,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Cercano Management LLC boosted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the first quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 70,533 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,483,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price target (up from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $562.00 to $586.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $472.00 to $509.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $499.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $323,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,217,500. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $465.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $476.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $471.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $341.90 and a 52-week high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.