IBM Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 122.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,105 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,355 shares during the period. IBM Retirement Fund’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2,699.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,246,380 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,104,591,000 after buying an additional 18,558,874 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,474,890 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,801,530,000 after buying an additional 560,796 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,013,178 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,313,647,000 after buying an additional 239,017 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,754,618 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $957,317,000 after buying an additional 105,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 8.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,339,821 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $255,483,000 after buying an additional 191,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.89% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) opened at 148.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.35 billion, a PE ratio of 142.30 and a beta of 1.77. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $71.46 and a 12 month high of $167.85. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $146.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.81.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $544.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.95 million. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 12.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post $1.60 EPS for the current fiscal year.
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Several research firms recently issued reports on VRTX. Raymond James Financial, Inc. upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. J P Morgan Chase & Co set a $175.00 price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Vetr upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $102.09 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, May 15th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $162.88.
In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Ian F. Smith sold 4,250 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.39, for a total value of $660,407.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 120,138 shares in the company, valued at $18,668,243.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Paul M. Silva sold 43,443 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.07, for a total value of $6,997,364.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 26,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,270,932.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 751,042 shares of company stock valued at $113,078,257 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.
About Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is engaged in discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing medicines for serious diseases. The Company is focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) and advancing its research and development programs in other indications.
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