Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) Upgraded at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $540.00 price objective on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

VRTX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $478.00 to $518.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $545.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $460.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ VRTX opened at $491.47 on Friday. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $362.50 and a fifty-two week high of $519.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $459.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.18. The firm has a market cap of $124.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.30.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last released 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). 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 24.30% and a net margin of 32.94%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.98 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vertex Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Ourania Tatsis sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.99, for a total value of $2,137,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 42,293 shares in the company, valued at $20,088,752.07. This trade represents a 9.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Jeffrey M. Leiden sold 63,781 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $449.20, for a total transaction of $28,650,425.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 24,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,792,479.20. This trade represents a 72.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 99,352 shares of company stock valued at $45,037,314 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in 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 valued at $7,850,544,000 after purchasing an additional 763,063 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,689,539 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,299,569,000 after purchasing an additional 83,539 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,151,505 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,738,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,928,747 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,627,135,000 after purchasing an additional 166,987 shares in the last quarter. 90.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.