California State Teachers Retirement System Has $166.77 Million Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 373,481 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,270 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $166,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after buying an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4%

VRTX stock opened at $490.39 on Wednesday. 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $467.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.99. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $533.67.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.06 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 17.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total transaction of $787,485.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Joy Liu sold 1,104 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.02, for a total transaction of $469,222.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,729 shares in the company, valued at $8,810,239.58. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $577.00 to $572.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $607.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.