Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA)

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 8,008 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,661% compared to the typical volume of 290 call options.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Up 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VERA opened at $22.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.13. The company has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.56 and a beta of 1.28. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $18.53 and a fifty-two week high of $51.61.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.11. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VERA. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VERA. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.67.

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.