Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 3,600 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 121,600 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $48,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total value of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $474.62 on Monday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $481.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $463.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $121.88 billion, a PE ratio of -215.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $408.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.17.

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.