Employees Retirement System of Texas Takes $1.32 Million Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• The Employees Retirement System of Texas opened a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals, buying 2,918 shares worth about $1.32 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several other funds adding to Vertex positions and institutional investors/hedge funds holding about 90.96% of the stock.
• Vertex posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings, reporting EPS of $4.47 versus the $4.24 estimate, while revenue rose 8.3% year over year to $2.99 billion.

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,918 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $1,323,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $213,435,000 after buying an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,030,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $956,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,695,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 6,988 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $3,144,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 26,088 shares in the company, valued at $11,739,600. This trade represents a 21.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.73, for a total value of $134,746.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,086,446.52. This represents a 6.07% 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 have sold a total of 11,717 shares of company stock valued at $5,309,945 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $590.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $555.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $437.22 on Thursday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $362.50 and a 12-month high of $507.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.30. The firm's 50-day moving average is $439.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $451.39.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.97 EPS for the current year.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VRTX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.