Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 69,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,948,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.11% of Vera Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,477 shares of the company's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,203 shares of the company's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.21% of the company's stock.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Up 1.6 %

VERA traded up $0.38 on Thursday, hitting $23.75. The company had a trading volume of 2,456,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,081. The company's fifty day moving average price is $24.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.56. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.53 and a 1 year high of $51.61. The company has a current ratio of 13.76, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.10 and a beta of 1.28.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.11. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.67.

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.