Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stock Position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,842 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the third 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. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.83, for a total transaction of $142,547.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,438,776.43. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,615,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,000. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,315 shares of company stock worth $2,121,012. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VRTX shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $408.00 to $424.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer downgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $435.00 to $467.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.70.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRTX opened at $492.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $126.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -223.95, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.41. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $377.85 and a 1 year high of $519.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $476.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $463.64. 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 results 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.