Tweedy Browne Co LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Tweedy Browne Co LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,631 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 12,969 shares during the quarter. Vertex Pharmaceuticals makes up approximately 1.1% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $16,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 99 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 58 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,236 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Spinnaker Trust raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 1,235 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Altshuler sold 3,231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,000. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 244 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.06, for a total transaction of $111,034.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $490.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $500.00 to $550.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $533.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $508.65.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $484.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.50 billion, a PE ratio of -220.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.68. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

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

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.