Insider Selling: Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Sells 4,910 Shares of Stock

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) EVP Duncan Mckechnie sold 4,910 shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.65, for a total value of $2,394,361.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,562,646.35. This represents a 21.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRTX stock traded down $2.92 during trading on Thursday, hitting $480.13. 1,305,189 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,523,726. The stock has a market cap of $121.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 0.30. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated has a 1 year low of $362.50 and a 1 year high of $519.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $465.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $430.79.

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 company posted $3.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated will post 15.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Vertex Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Profile of CEO Reshma Kewalramani in TIME highlights strong leadership and continued R&D momentum, which can support investor confidence in Vertex’s long-term pipeline and strategy. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary noting Vertex’s relative performance vs. the Dow suggests the stock still has investor interest and can attract momentum buyers after pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: General coverage in Nasdaq-100 roundup pieces points to continued attention from index investors and analysts — useful for liquidity and index-fund flows but not an immediate catalyst. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent Q4 results (Feb 12) showed revenue growth (~9.5% y/y) but a tiny EPS miss ($5.03 vs. $5.05 consensus). Fundamentals remain strong, but the small miss tempers near-term upside until forward guidance or pipeline news arrives. (Earnings release/public filings)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insider sales by several senior execs on Feb 25 — including large disposals such as EVP Duncan McKechnie (4,910 shares; ~21.9% reduction) and several other EVPs/CAO — collectively amount to roughly $4.6M in disclosed sales. Clustered insider selling can trigger short-term selling pressure and signals profit-taking or personal liquidity needs rather than company weakness, but markets often interpret heavy insider sales as a negative near-term indicator. SEC Filing (example)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VRTX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $445.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $540.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals from $546.00 to $541.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $577.00 target price on shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRTX. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Vertex Pharmaceuticals by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 90.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.