Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) Position Lifted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,227 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 97.1% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 67 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Annapolis Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $456.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $540.00 to $555.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $438.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $462.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $448.61.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 2,350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.11, for a total value of $1,031,908.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 53,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,502,484.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Reshma Kewalramani sold 1,565 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.00, for a total transaction of $715,205.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,467,918. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,366 shares of company stock worth $13,058,787 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX traded up $4.40 on Friday, reaching $474.68. 95,032 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,225,251. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.49 billion, a PE ratio of 30.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $450.53 and its 200-day moving average is $428.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $335.82 and a fifty-two week high of $486.42.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.67 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals 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.