Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 166,947 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 75.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 55,758 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 166,947 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the third quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $719,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,983 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after buying an additional 851,054 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,136,000 after acquiring an additional 528,029 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,977,000 after acquiring an additional 324,188 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $430.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $481.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $435.51 and its 200-day moving average is $462.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -241.79, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.77. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.93 EPS 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.