Samlyn Capital LLC Sells 683,797 Shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. $VERA

Key Points

• Samlyn Capital LLC reduced its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 41.1%, selling 683,797 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 978,423 shares valued at $23.5 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have been actively buying shares of Vera Therapeutics, with AlphaQuest LLC increasing its stake by 404.7% and GAMMA Investing LLC by 1,779.1% in the same period.
• Vera Therapeutics recently reported a quarterly loss of ($1.20) EPS, missing analysts' estimates, while analysts maintain an average price target of $63.00 for the stock.

Samlyn Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Free Report) by 41.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 978,423 shares of the company's stock after selling 683,797 shares during the quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC owned approximately 1.53% of Vera Therapeutics worth $23,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 130.0% in the fourth quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,634,000 after acquiring an additional 650,000 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 8.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,754,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,212,000 after buying an additional 377,783 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 1,437,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,785,000 after buying an additional 340,488 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 18.4% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,675,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,243,000 after buying an additional 260,188 shares during the period. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Patrick G. Enright acquired 209,393 shares of Vera Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.87 per share, for a total transaction of $4,370,031.91. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,569,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $74,495,924.14. This trade represents a 6.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 16.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $63.00.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

Vera Therapeutics stock traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.08. 2,216,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,869,338. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 17.03 and a current ratio of 17.03. The company's fifty day moving average is $22.25 and its 200-day moving average is $23.29. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.53 and a 52 week high of $51.61.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.82) by ($0.38). During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.62) earnings per share. On average, 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.