Madison Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Key Points

• Madison Asset Management acquired 29,302 Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $14.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 90.96% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with Vertex carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $563.50; several firms recently raised their targets.
• Vertex shares opened at $552.06 after rising 4.5%, while quarterly revenue increased 12.5% year over year to $3.33 billion, despite EPS narrowly missing estimates.

Madison Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 29,302 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $14,555,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,783,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $228,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised 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 worth $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 1,541 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $519.00, for a total value of $799,779.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,709,519. This represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,793,071.79. This represents a 3.20% 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 a total of 10,464 shares of company stock worth $4,959,397 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VRTX. 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 research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $543.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $436.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $545.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $563.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $552.06 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $488.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $464.85. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $374.17 and a 1 year high of $553.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.30.

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

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.

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