Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.36 EPS

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($1.69) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.33) by ($0.36), Briefing.com reports. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.81) earnings per share.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:VERA traded down $0.72 during trading on Thursday, hitting $35.88. The company had a trading volume of 972,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,190,760. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.70 and a beta of 0.96. Vera Therapeutics has a one year low of $18.76 and a one year high of $56.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 13.64 and a quick ratio of 13.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO David Lee Johnson sold 2,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.98, for a total value of $108,266.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,919,619.46. This trade represents a 5.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 22,951 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.05, for a total value of $1,010,991.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 235,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,362,498.20. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,441 shares of company stock worth $2,416,902. 15.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VERA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 7.7% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 22.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 98,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,354,000 after buying an additional 17,907 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 297.1% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 41,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 62,678 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 550.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 310,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,316,000 after buying an additional 262,805 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 1.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 50,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on VERA. Wolfe Research raised Vera Therapeutics from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.60.

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.