Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.19, but opened at $26.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vera Therapeutics shares last traded at $27.7480, with a volume of 558,182 shares changing hands.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on VERA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VERA. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 132.6% in the first quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,000 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,097,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,754,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,212,000 after purchasing an additional 377,783 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 89.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 714,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,832,000 after purchasing an additional 336,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $7,044,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 12.21, a current ratio of 12.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.95 and a beta of 1.22.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.20) by ($0.06). During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.85) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

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.