Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,758 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,428 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $731,283,000. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $435,899,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,231,858,000 after purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $338,136,000 after purchasing an additional 528,029 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:VRTX traded down $2.70 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $509.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,005,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,837. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $469.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $462.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $130.72 billion, a PE ratio of -231.38, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.