Kristen Ambrose Sells 1,376 Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) CAO Kristen Ambrose sold 1,376 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total value of $633,551.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,662,774.61. The trade was a 11.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of VRTX stock opened at $491.47 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 52 week low of $362.50 and a 52 week high of $519.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $459.98 and its 200-day moving average is $427.76.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.18 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.98 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRTX has been the topic of several research reports. 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. Evercore upped their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $475.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $558.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $414.00 to $606.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Twenty-two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.05.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,593,974,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 77.9% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,689,059 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,836,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,156 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,356,766 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,521,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,200 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,316,344 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares during the period. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.