Woodline Partners LP Sells 201,617 Shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. $VERA

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has reduced its stake in Vera Therapeutics, owning 1,000,849 shares worth approximately $24.04 million after selling 201,617 shares, marking a 16.8% decrease in their position.
• The stock of Vera Therapeutics has seen recent institutional interest, with companies like AlphaQuest LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing their positions by 404.7% and 1,779.1% respectively in the first quarter.
• Vera Therapeutics reported a loss of ($1.20) earnings per share for the latest quarter, which was below analysts' expectations, prompting various research firms to adjust their price targets and ratings on the stock.

Woodline Partners LP reduced its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,000,849 shares of the company's stock after selling 201,617 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned 1.57% of Vera Therapeutics worth $24,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 25.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 404.7% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 1,779.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 7,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 19.7% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,572 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VERA traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $24.55. The company had a trading volume of 587,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,365,892. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $22.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.88 and a beta of 1.17. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.53 and a 1-year high of $51.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 17.03 and a current ratio of 17.03.

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

Insider Transactions at Vera Therapeutics

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.