Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Purchased by Madison Asset Management LLC

Madison Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 66.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,387 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,952 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,929 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,311,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% during the second quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 604 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 26.3% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on VRTX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $542.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $612.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.61.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $482.00 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $464.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $459.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $533.67. The stock has a market cap of $122.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $524.99, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total transaction of $799,779.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,001 shares in the company, valued at $5,709,519. The trade was a 12.29% 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. Insiders have sold 18,874 shares of company stock worth $8,707,966 in the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.