New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Purchases 1,000 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $541.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $502.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.67. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $374.17 and a 12-month high of $555.69. The firm has a market cap of $137.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.74 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $4.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This 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 a total of 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $560.00 to $565.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.