New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Acquires 1,000 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 103.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 55 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 4,062 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,827,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 16,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,628,850. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 10,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,959,397 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VRTX. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $590.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $615.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $541.69 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $502.08 and its 200 day moving average is $468.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12 month low of $374.17 and a 12 month high of $555.69.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.74 by ($0.01). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.00% and a return on equity of 23.09%. The business had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 16.86 EPS for the current year.

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.