Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Teachers Retirement System of Kentucky reduced its Vertex Pharmaceuticals stake by 8.9% in the first quarter, selling 3,598 shares and leaving it with 36,725 shares valued at about $16.4 million.
• Vertex reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings of $4.47 per share, beating estimates, while revenue came in at $2.99 billion and rose 8.3% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on VRTX, with multiple firms raising price targets and analysts giving the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average target of about $559.61.

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,725 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 3,598 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $16,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRTX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,440,149,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $166,317,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 520.1% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 381,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $149,291,000 after buying an additional 319,725 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VRTX opened at $480.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $533.67. The business's 50 day moving average price is $458.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $458.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.86% and a net margin of 35.51%.The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.06 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 596 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $482.50, for a total transaction of $287,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 15,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,400,102.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,810,239.58. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Maxim Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $575.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $559.61.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.

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.