Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Trims Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,920 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 4,123 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $933,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 636 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 256 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.70, for a total value of $150,697.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,804 shares in the company, valued at $23,755,762.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $371.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $432.18.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock traded up $5.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $447.53. 1,084,613 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,211. The company has a market cap of $115.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50 day moving average is $411.66 and its 200 day moving average is $405.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $320.01 and a 12-month high of $449.91.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.28 EPS for the current year.

About Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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.