Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated $VRTX Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. lowered its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) by 2.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 89,850 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals were worth $35,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VRTX. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 39,035 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the second 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 period. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $5,030,000. Advisory Resource Group purchased a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $1,286,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its holdings in shares of 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 transaction of $806,212.93. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,046 shares in the company, valued at $10,150,639.78. The trade was a 7.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark E. Bunnage sold 2,021 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total transaction of $930,529.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,914 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 99,352 shares of company stock worth $45,037,314 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.7%

VRTX opened at $491.47 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $459.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $427.76. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The firm has a market cap of $124.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Key Headlines 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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $590.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Barclays raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $414.00 to $606.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $537.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Company 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.