Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 29,600 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,218,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,417,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 544,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,435,000 after acquiring an additional 20,053 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $956,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,247,566 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $880,237,000 after purchasing an additional 92,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 447,169 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $202,612,000 after purchasing an additional 86,084 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 318 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director owned 4,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,086,446.52. The trade was a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,215 shares of company stock worth $7,272,420. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $480.18 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $441.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $453.90. The company has a market cap of $121.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $507.92.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on VRTX. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $580.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $575.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Maxim Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.91.

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.