The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA)

Research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 52.91% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on VERA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush upped their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VERA opened at $37.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.53 and a beta of 1.15. Vera Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $31.77 and a 52 week high of $51.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a current ratio of 13.76.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($0.21). Equities analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Vera Therapeutics news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.07, for a total transaction of $753,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,942 shares in the company, valued at $3,701,521.94. This trade represents a 16.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,500 shares of company stock worth $2,305,625. 21.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Vera Therapeutics by 21.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its position in Vera Therapeutics by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $163,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 117.5% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 5,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

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.