Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires 636 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,278 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 636 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,816,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,495,501,000 after purchasing an additional 90,173 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 18.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 17.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 704,421 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,905,705 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,351,385,000 after purchasing an additional 159,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,516,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,170,506,000 after purchasing an additional 100,114 shares during the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $402.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $566.00 to $520.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $505.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,438,776.43. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of VRTX opened at $459.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $435.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $377.85 and a 12 month high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 4.52% and a negative return on equity of 1.91%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post -1.94 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.