Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.55 and last traded at $51.55, with a volume of 64339 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on VERA. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank started coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Vera Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.88.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.43. The company has a current ratio of 13.76, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.77 and a beta of 1.03.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($0.21). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Beth C. Seidenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $720,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 131,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,318,490.59. This represents a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 15,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $585,937.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,548,950. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 104,398 shares of company stock valued at $4,376,163. 21.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $135,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 20.8% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

Vera Therapeutics Company Profile

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.