Short Interest in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) Increases By 18.6%

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,070,000 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the April 30th total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 999,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days. Currently, 14.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 127.2% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 25.0% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,500 shares of the company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on VERA. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $34.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $107.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $65.00.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of VERA stock traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $30.63. The company had a trading volume of 3,478,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 878,802. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.74 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a current ratio of 13.76. Vera Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $18.53 and a twelve month high of $51.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.86.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.75) by ($0.06). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.56) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.