Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $42.24 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 104,895 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,165 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $42,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $731,283,000. Edgewood Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,899,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,231,858,000 after acquiring an additional 704,421 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 169.4% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5 %

VRTX opened at $510.18 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a twelve month low of $377.85 and a twelve month high of $519.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $466.02 and a 200-day moving average of $462.64. The stock has a market cap of $131.01 billion, a PE ratio of -231.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $407.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.70.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,805,286.70. The trade was a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is 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.