Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 70,580 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $35,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 33.0% in the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 23,131 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,490,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 163,045 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $81,003,000 after buying an additional 14,846 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,986 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,464,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $101,525,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total value of $287,570.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 8,719 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,147 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VRTX shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $653.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $569.52.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.2%

NASDAQ VRTX traded down $17.22 on Tuesday, hitting $528.90. 1,121,085 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,417,738. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $374.17 and a fifty-two week high of $560.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $510.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $471.81. The company has a market cap of $134.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.32.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.23 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc is a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies for serious diseases. Founded in 1989, Vertex built its reputation on research-driven drug development and is best known for its work in cystic fibrosis (CF), where its portfolio of small-molecule CFTR modulators transformed standards of care for many people with the disease. The company operates research and development, manufacturing and commercial organizations and serves patients and healthcare systems in multiple international markets.

Vertex’s marketed products center on CFTR modulators that target the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis rather than just treating symptoms.