Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $15.91 Million Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,200 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 25,567,184 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,687,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761,414 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,743,882 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,401,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,218 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,782,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,999,080,000 after acquiring an additional 837,461 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $277,317,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $257,655,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 23,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,088,728.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,280 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.75, for a total transaction of $1,086,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 23,259 shares in the company, valued at $11,088,728.25. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,005 shares of company stock worth $5,988,066. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRTX shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $541.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $474.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $492.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $477.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 0.40. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $341.90 and a 1-year high of $510.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $475.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $461.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported ($12.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($12.54) by ($0.29). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.45% and a negative net margin of 4.74%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.53 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.