Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Trading Up 5% – Still a Buy?

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) shares rose 5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.72 and last traded at $42.1470. 404,335 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,266,493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore set a $91.00 price objective on Vera Therapeutics in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vera Therapeutics from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.00.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Up 6.7%

The stock has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of -7.75 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.24. The company has a quick ratio of 13.64, a current ratio of 13.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.33) by ($0.36). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.81) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -6.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 22,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.05, for a total value of $1,010,991.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,244 shares in the company, valued at $10,362,498.20. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,951 shares of company stock valued at $2,392,387. Insiders own 15.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 703 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 17,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $901,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 5,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 17,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 27,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

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.