Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.71.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush boosted their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $21.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

VERA opened at $37.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 28.63 and a quick ratio of 28.63. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of -18.52 and a beta of 1.11. Vera Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $7.10 and a 1 year high of $50.78.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.03). Sell-side analysts predict that Vera Therapeutics will post -2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sean Grant sold 99,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $3,954,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,627,608.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Sean Grant sold 99,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $3,954,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 66,337 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,627,608.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Maha Katabi sold 81,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total value of $3,580,597.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,547,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,796,715.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 526,551 shares of company stock valued at $21,533,345 in the last quarter. 21.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.