Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Shares Up 7.8% – Here’s Why

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)’s share price traded up 7.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $34.00 and last traded at $34.2490. Approximately 343,562 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 1,575,944 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on VERA. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC set a $125.00 price objective on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vera Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.15.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8%

The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.80 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.89. 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 released 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 last year, the business earned ($1.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -6.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vera Therapeutics news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 46,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.30, for a total value of $1,956,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 151,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,429,346.20. This trade represents a 23.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 101,750 shares of company stock worth $3,992,300 over the last quarter. 15.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nykredit A S bought a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $249,000. NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $405,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 114.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 13,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after purchasing an additional 6,932 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

About Vera Therapeutics

Vera Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immune-mediated diseases. The company’s research is centered on therapies designed to address the underlying causes of autoimmune conditions rather than primarily managing their symptoms.

Vera’s leading product candidate is atacicept, an investigational biologic designed to inhibit two proteins involved in the survival and activity of antibody-producing immune cells, B-cell activating factor and a proliferation-inducing ligand.