California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 12,270 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 373,481 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,270 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.15% of Vertex Pharmaceuticals worth $166,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,850,544,000 after acquiring an additional 763,063 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,733,596 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,146,041,000 after purchasing an additional 44,537 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,521,851,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,440,149,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $490.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $467.74 and a 200-day moving average of $459.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $533.67. The company has a market cap of $124.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.29.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.23. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 35.51% and a return on equity of 23.86%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.06 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VRTX. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $437.00 to $436.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twenty-two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.61.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value of $787,485.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 45,321 shares in the company, valued at $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total value of $469,222.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock valued at $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.