Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $6.23, but opened at $6.77. Verve Therapeutics shares last traded at $6.54, with a volume of 723,265 shares.

Specifically, insider Andrew D. Ashe purchased 76,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $6.26 per share, with a total value of $475,760.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 342,509 shares in the company, valued at $2,144,106.34. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 21.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $56.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Verve Therapeutics Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.78. The company has a market cap of $549.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.27 and a beta of 1.94.

Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.59) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by $0.11. Verve Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.35% and a negative net margin of 1,226.51%. The business had revenue of $5.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 million. The firm’s revenue was up 305.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verve Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verve Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Verve Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Verve Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verve Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Verve Therapeutics by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PBCay One RSC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verve Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors own 97.11% of the company’s stock.

About Verve Therapeutics

Verve Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage genetic medicines company, engages in developing gene editing medicines for patients to treat cardiovascular diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is VERVE-101, a single-course gene editing treatment that permanently turns off the PCSK9 gene in the liver; and VERVE-102, a product candidate that targets the PCSK9 gene for the treatment of HeFH.