Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Trading 5.3% Higher

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)’s stock price traded up 5.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $39.39 and last traded at $39.05. 218,098 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,172,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VERA. Wedbush boosted their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $21.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.71.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of -18.09 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.58 and its 200-day moving average is $30.98. The company has a quick ratio of 28.63, a current ratio of 28.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.03). On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.32 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vera Therapeutics news, CFO Sean Grant sold 99,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $3,954,187.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,627,608.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Sean Grant sold 99,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $3,954,187.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,627,608.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Maha Katabi sold 81,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $3,580,597.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,547,437 shares in the company, valued at $156,796,715.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 526,551 shares of company stock valued at $21,533,345. Insiders own 21.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Vera Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $227,027,000. Kynam Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP now owns 3,650,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,142,000 after acquiring an additional 694,286 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $103,189,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,148,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,653,000 after acquiring an additional 515,106 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,087,000. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vera Therapeutics Company Profile

Vera Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing and commercializing treatments for patients with serious immunological diseases. Its lead product candidate is atacicept, a fusion protein self-administered as a subcutaneous injection that is in Phase III clinical trial for patients with immunoglobulin A nephropathy; and for treatment of lupus nephritis that is in Phase II clinical trial.