Tweedy Browne Co LLC Increases Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,065 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up approximately 1.3% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $15,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in 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 period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 14.0% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 707 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,873 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,973,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,673,126,000 after buying an additional 482,616 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 89.2% in the 2nd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,822 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,373,000 after buying an additional 4,632 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $571.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Wolfe Research raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $553.36.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $462.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $117.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $470.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.49. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a one year low of $362.50 and a one year high of $516.50.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 32.94% and a return on equity of 24.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amit Sachdev sold 58,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.83, for a total transaction of $27,479,532.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,630,027.22. The trade was a 49.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Carmen Bozic sold 2,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $481.79, for a total value of $1,122,088.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 35,405 shares in the company, valued at $17,057,774.95. This trade represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 93,485 shares of company stock worth $43,967,586 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.