Oppenheimer Upgrades Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) to Outperform

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) was upgraded by Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $540.00 target price on the pharmaceutical company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective points to a potential upside of 9.87% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $548.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $564.00 price target on Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their target price on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $478.00 to $518.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.05.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 5.7%

NASDAQ VRTX opened at $491.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.70 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06 and a beta of 0.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $459.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $427.48. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $362.50 and a 12 month high of $519.68.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The pharmaceutical company reported $5.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $3.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.98 earnings per share. Vertex Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Vertex Pharmaceuticals will post 15.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Jonathan Biller sold 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,585,692.17. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Edward Morrow Atkinson III sold 1,751 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.43, for a total value of $806,212.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,150,639.78. This represents a 7.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,352 shares of company stock valued at $45,037,314. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vertex Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the second 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 buying an additional 1,393 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased 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 worth $16,983,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,030,000. Advisory Resource Group purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,286,000. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR boosted its stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 41.8% during the third quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 23,569 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.96% of the company’s stock.

Key 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.