State of Michigan Retirement System Purchases 100 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,123 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $30,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $528,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7.2% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 829 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 12,101 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,208,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 227,063 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $78,959,000 after purchasing an additional 58,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VRTX. Argus lifted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $424.00 to $421.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $448.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of VRTX stock traded up $2.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $473.78. 852,503 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,238,103. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 3.29 and a current ratio of 3.50. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $335.82 and a fifty-two week high of $486.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $446.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $427.25. The firm has a market cap of $122.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 39.46% and a return on equity of 23.08%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,920,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at $55,467,918. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total value of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,366 shares of company stock worth $13,058,787. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.