Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $80.15

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus on Vera Therapeutics, with 11 buy ratings, one strong buy, one hold and one sell. The average 12-month price target is $80.15, substantially above the reported share price of $30.25.
• Several brokerages adjusted their outlooks positively: JPMorgan raised its target to $83, Bank of America to $70, and Raymond James reaffirmed a strong-buy rating, while HC Wainwright cut its target to $90 but retained a buy rating.
• CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 18,500 shares for $684,500 under a pre-arranged trading plan, while institutional ownership stands at a high 99.21%. Vera’s latest quarterly loss of $1.52 per share was slightly better than the $1.58 consensus estimate.

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.15.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VERA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. HC Wainwright lowered their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $125.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vera Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 18,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total transaction of $684,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,704,028. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 15.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 99.5% during the 2nd quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 85,777 shares of the company's stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 42,787 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 1,579.2% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 108,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,640,000 after buying an additional 101,699 shares during the period. Odyssean LLC raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 192.6% in the second quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 60,005 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,575,000 after buying an additional 39,495 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Vera Therapeutics by 569.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 104,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,503,000 after buying an additional 89,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,663,000. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:VERA opened at $30.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 10.92, a current ratio of 10.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.16 and a beta of 1.06. Vera Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $23.05 and a 52-week high of $56.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $32.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.15.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($1.52) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.58) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics will post -6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vera Therapeutics Company Profile

Vera Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immune-mediated diseases. The company's lead product candidate is atacicept, an investigational fusion protein designed to inhibit two immune signaling molecules, B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), which contribute to the survival and activity of antibody-producing B cells.

Vera is primarily studying atacicept as a potential treatment for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgA nephropathy), a chronic kidney disorder caused by the buildup of IgA immune complexes.

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