Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 503,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 52,690 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.20% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $224,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Future Fund LLC grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Future Fund LLC now owns 4,957 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,213,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. PeakShares LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% in the first quarter. PeakShares LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,098,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.8% in the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 649.6% in the first quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 4,685 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 4,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 12.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,825,000 after acquiring an additional 973 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,709,519. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $485.65 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $462.54 and a 200-day moving average of $459.00. The firm has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.29. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $362.50 and a twelve month high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Twenty-one equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $559.61.

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.