Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 338 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Madison Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,676 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 338 shares during the quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 62,347 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,384 shares during the last quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 738 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Arrow Financial Corp lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrow Financial Corp now owns 3,349 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,537 shares during the period. Finally, Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $499,000. Institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $17,920,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Bruce I. Sachs sold 7,073 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $448.00, for a total transaction of $3,168,704.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,920,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles F. Wagner, Jr. sold 3,250 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.79, for a total transaction of $1,478,067.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 50,387 shares in the company, valued at $22,915,503.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,168 shares of company stock valued at $6,377,853. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $417.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Barclays increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $446.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $462.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $515.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $438.62.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $12.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $455.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,362,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,487. The company has a quick ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 3.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $117.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.39. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $320.01 and a 52 week high of $457.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $416.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $409.41.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pharmaceutical company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $1.10. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 39.46%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.67 EPS. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.22 earnings per share for the current 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.