Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $61.49 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 20.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,824 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,929 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $61,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 778.4% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 19,315 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,364,000 after purchasing an additional 17,116 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.0% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 538 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 51.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 9,354 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRTX. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Leerink Partnrs cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $511.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock traded down $2.40 on Thursday, hitting $454.64. 763,957 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,418,533. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $377.85 and a 1-year high of $519.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $452.38 and a 200-day moving average of $458.54. The stock has a market cap of $116.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -115.98 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 3.36% and a negative net margin of 8.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.76 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.