Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Buys 9,452 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 5,081.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,638 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,452 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,216,865 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,484,293,000 after acquiring an additional 243,088 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the third quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 4,088 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 90,129 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,298,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 9.3% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 314,889 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,323,000 after purchasing an additional 26,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 62,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,591,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRTX. Evercore lifted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $478.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $456.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vertex Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $491.47 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $459.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.18. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52-week low of $362.50 and a 52-week high of $519.68.

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

Key Stories Impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jonathan Biller sold 1,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $886,327.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,585,692.17. This represents a 8.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 2,021 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $930,529.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,914 shares in the company, valued at $5,945,993.02. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 99,352 shares of company stock valued at $45,037,314. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.