Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Lowers Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 428,720 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,062 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 0.8% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.17% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $200,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,522 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 161.2% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,968 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,449 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,320,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 5,295 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.00, for a total value of $2,689,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $20,320,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,047 shares of company stock worth $16,843,806. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $505.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective (up previously from $508.00) on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $431.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $486.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $477.90 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.85 and a 1 year high of $510.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $483.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $451.58. The company has a market cap of $123.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.74% and a negative return on equity of 2.45%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -2.14 earnings per share for the current 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.