Vera Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VERA)

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 12,873 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,040% compared to the typical volume of 1,129 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Vera Therapeutics news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 46,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.30, for a total transaction of $1,956,375.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 151,994 shares in the company, valued at $6,429,346.20. This trade represents a 23.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 15.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,461,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795,537 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. increased its position in Vera Therapeutics by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 3,641,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,812,000 after buying an additional 293,040 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,570,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,805,000 after acquiring an additional 379,748 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 24.0% in the second quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 3,100,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,036,000 after acquiring an additional 600,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eversept Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 3,072,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,581,000 after acquiring an additional 264,468 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ VERA traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.52. 934,155 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,472,140. Vera Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $21.15 and a 12-month high of $56.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.88 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 10.92 and a current ratio of 10.92.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($1.52) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.58) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.20) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics will post -6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vera Therapeutics

Vera Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel immunotherapies that harness the body’s own regulatory T cells to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. By leveraging a proprietary protein engineering platform, the company designs Treg-selective cytokine variants intended to restore immune balance and provide targeted, disease-modifying effects. Its pipeline comprises multiple preclinical and clinical candidates aimed at indications characterized by chronic inflammation and autoimmunity.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Vera Therapeutics collaborates with leading academic and research institutions to advance its development programs.