Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Increases Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,278 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 636 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRTX. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after acquiring an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after acquiring an additional 159,693 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after acquiring an additional 100,114 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX traded up $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $484.24. 1,444,007 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,541,286. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88. 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's 50 day moving average is $436.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.70. The company has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -220.11, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on VRTX. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $505.61.

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.