Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 6,126 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 115,847 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 6,126 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $46,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 530 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.34, for a total value of $251,930.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 58,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,825,928.26. The trade was a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,813 shares of company stock worth $1,889,514 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $462.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $420.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.04.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX traded up $10.00 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $446.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,048,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,419,098. The firm has a market cap of $114.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -202.73, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.51. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $474.73 and a 200 day moving average of $462.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.85 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.86% and a negative return on equity of 2.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.76 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current 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.