California Public Employees Retirement System Has $616.77 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,515,816 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,855 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.59% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $616,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,375 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after acquiring an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 39.4% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 191 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 28.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 48.2% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 736 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $332.00 to $379.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $371.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.45.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total transaction of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,755,762.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,755,762.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $5.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $399.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,393,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,248,320. The stock has a market cap of $103.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $316.43 and a one year high of $448.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $413.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $397.73.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

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.