Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VERV shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Verve Therapeutics from $56.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Verve Therapeutics Price Performance

Verve Therapeutics stock opened at $4.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.07. Verve Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $4.59 and a 52-week high of $21.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.12 million, a P/E ratio of -1.74 and a beta of 1.83.

Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by $0.11. Verve Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.35% and a negative net margin of 1,226.51%. The company had revenue of $5.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 305.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verve Therapeutics will post -2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verve Therapeutics

In other news, insider Andrew D. Ashe purchased 76,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.26 per share, for a total transaction of $475,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 342,509 shares in the company, valued at $2,144,106.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 19.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verve Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Verve Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Verve Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the period. Finally, PBCay One RSC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 97.11% of the company’s stock.

Verve Therapeutics Company Profile

Verve Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage genetic medicines company, engages in developing gene editing medicines for patients to treat cardiovascular diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is VERVE-101, a single-course gene editing treatment that permanently turns off the PCSK9 gene in the liver; and VERVE-102, a product candidate that targets the PCSK9 gene for the treatment of HeFH.