Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Trading 7.3% Higher – Here’s Why

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)’s stock price traded up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $43.48 and last traded at $43.32. 381,550 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 906,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Vera Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.56.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 21.43, a current ratio of 21.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of -19.83 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.87.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.06). Equities analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Beth C. Seidenberg sold 1,177 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.01, for a total transaction of $49,445.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 160,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,395.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Vera Therapeutics news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 14,471 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $575,366.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,667 shares in the company, valued at $12,829,239.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Beth C. Seidenberg sold 1,177 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.01, for a total value of $49,445.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 160,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,395.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,398 shares of company stock worth $4,376,163. 21.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $332,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 4,118 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,477,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $610,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vera Therapeutics

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.