Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 3,033 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,720 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,033 shares during the period. Vertex Pharmaceuticals comprises about 0.6% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $35,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 636 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 76 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the third quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 4,375 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $5.64 during trading on Monday, hitting $399.92. 1,393,853 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,248,320. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 3.99 and a quick ratio of 3.78. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $316.43 and a 1 year high of $448.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $398.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 21.91% and a net margin of 36.68%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 14.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,250,727.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Stuart A. Arbuckle sold 4,295 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total transaction of $1,804,930.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 75,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,819,732.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 3,222 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $420.24, for a total value of $1,354,013.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,250,727.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,381 shares of company stock valued at $5,203,249 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRTX has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $390.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $498.00 to $466.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $397.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $508.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.45.

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.