16,982 Shares in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. $VERA Purchased by Magnetar Financial LLC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has acquired 16,982 shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc., valued at approximately $408,000, reflecting growing interest from institutional investors in the company.
• Vera Therapeutics reported a quarterly loss of ($1.20) EPS, which missed analysts' expectations, and is projected to have an EPS of ($2.89) for the current year.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Vera Therapeutics, with one strong buy, seven buys, and two holds, and an average price target of $63.00 for the stock.

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Trexquant Investment LP grew its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 187.1% in the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 62,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 40,913 shares in the last quarter. Tri Locum Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $3,608,000. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $4,772,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $906,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 404.7% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VERA. Wolfe Research reiterated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Vera Therapeutics stock traded up $2.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,747,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,354,693. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.43. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.53 and a fifty-two week high of $51.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of -6.76 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 17.03, a quick ratio of 17.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.82) by ($0.38). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.62) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vera Therapeutics

In related news, Director Patrick G. Enright purchased 40,607 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.35 per share, with a total value of $907,566.45. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,596,593 shares in the company, valued at $80,383,853.55. This trade represents a 1.14% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 16.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vera Therapeutics 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.