Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Trading Up 6.5%

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 6.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $42.39 and last traded at $42.09. Approximately 148,465 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 1,259,533 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VERA. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $21.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer began coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Vera Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $29.00 to $37.00 in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vera Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $32.29.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Up 7.1 %

The company's 50-day moving average is $42.92 and its 200 day moving average is $27.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of -18.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 7.71 and a current ratio of 7.71.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by ($0.05). As a group, analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maha Katabi sold 81,009 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $3,580,597.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,547,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $156,796,715.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Vera Therapeutics news, Director Maha Katabi sold 81,009 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.20, for a total transaction of $3,580,597.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,547,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at $156,796,715.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Sean Grant sold 99,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $3,954,187.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 66,337 shares in the company, valued at $2,627,608.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 526,551 shares of company stock valued at $21,533,345 over the last ninety days. 21.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VERA. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 26.0% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $79,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE bought a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.21% of the company's stock.

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.