Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 166,947 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 75.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 55,758 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 166,947 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Edgewood Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 7,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 1,546,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $719,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,983 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,550,386 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,581,373,000 after purchasing an additional 851,054 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,798,870 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,231,858,000 after buying an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 839,672 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $338,136,000 after acquiring an additional 528,029 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 74,015.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 324,626 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $150,977,000 after buying an additional 324,188 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $522.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $473.00 to $476.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $550.00 to $460.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $502.58.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $481.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $123.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -241.79, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $435.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.74. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $377.85 and a 52 week high of $519.88.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 4.52%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.