Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,981 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,465 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,117 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,084,000 after buying an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 640.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,443 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,213,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,008,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $498,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $361.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $499.12.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $465.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $119.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -234.02 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $476.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.06. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $341.90 and a 1 year high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $499.00, for a total value of $1,888,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 9,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,987,006. This trade represents a 27.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sangeeta N. Bhatia sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $323,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,435 shares in the company, valued at $2,217,500. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.