Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) gapped down prior to trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $37.02, but opened at $35.00. Vera Therapeutics shares last traded at $32.05, with a volume of 160,823 shares.

Specifically, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total transaction of $730,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,993,989.22. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Vera Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $107.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $63.50.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Down 6.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 13.76, a current ratio of 13.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $45.20 and a 200-day moving average of $41.06.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by ($0.21). On average, equities research analysts predict that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $135,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $163,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Vera Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $235,000. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Vera Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $331,000. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.