Madison Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,522 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,848,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $545.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $450.00 to $459.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,615,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total value of $111,034.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,805,286.70. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,121,012 over the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $503.20 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 12-month low of $377.85 and a 12-month high of $519.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.69, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $467.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -228.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The pharmaceutical company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.99 by ($0.45). Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.02% and a negative net margin of 4.86%. Equities research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.