Edward Morrow Atkinson III Sells 1,751 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 1,751 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total value of $806,212.93. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,150,639.78. This trade represents a 7.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of VRTX opened at $491.47 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1-year low of $362.50 and a 1-year high of $519.68. The company has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.30. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $459.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $427.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 32.94%.Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRTX. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $577.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $537.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 38,147 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,983,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,030,000. Advisory Resource Group bought a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,286,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after buying an additional 6,942 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Vertex Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and product momentum — Q4 revenue of ~$3.19B (≈+9.5% YoY) came in at or slightly above many forecasts, driven by cystic fibrosis product sales and new launches (Alyftrek, Casgevy, Journavx), supporting near-term cash flow expectations. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade and bullish targets — Oppenheimer upgraded VRTX to “outperform” with a $540 target; several other firms recently raised targets or reiterated buys, which can drive momentum and institutional demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Pipeline diversification highlighted — Company commentary emphasized growth beyond CF (autoimmune partnerships/expansion), which reduces concentration risk and supports longer-term upside. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: 2026 revenue guidance roughly in-line — Management set FY2026 revenue guidance around $13.0–13.1B, largely matching Street expectations; this limits downside from guidance surprises but is not a bullish catalyst on its own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Full materials available for modeling — The slide deck and earnings call transcript are posted; analysts will parse product trends and margins to update models. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Small EPS miss and mixed metric comparisons — EPS was ~$5.03 vs. consensus near $5.05–$5.07; some outlets flagged revenue slightly below certain Street models, triggering near-term profit-taking. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling — Multiple senior executives disclosed open-market sales this week (EVPs, CAO). While common for tax/diversification, the cluster of sales can amplify short-term negative sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: After-hours weakness — The EPS miss plus insider sales pressured shares in after-hours trading, reflecting short-term profit-taking before today’s rebound. Article Title

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.