Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Shares of Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.27, but opened at $11.04. Verve Therapeutics shares last traded at $10.90, with a volume of 24,580,304 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VERV. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verve Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. William Blair lowered Verve Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Verve Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $39.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Verve Therapeutics from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.75.

Verve Therapeutics Trading Down 0.5%

The stock has a market cap of $985.92 million, a PE ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.34 and a 200-day moving average of $5.90.

Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.36. Verve Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 303.64% and a negative return on equity of 35.81%. The business had revenue of $32.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.13 million. Research analysts expect that Verve Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Verve Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Verve Therapeutics by 126.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 30,803 shares of the company's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 17,186 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Verve Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,648,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,413,118 shares of the company's stock worth $6,458,000 after buying an additional 671,939 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 1,028.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 373,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,706,000 after buying an additional 340,143 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.11% of the company's stock.

About Verve Therapeutics

Verve Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage genetic medicines company, engages in developing gene editing medicines for patients to treat cardiovascular diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is VERVE-101, a single-course gene editing treatment that permanently turns off the PCSK9 gene in the liver; and VERVE-102, a product candidate that targets the PCSK9 gene for the treatment of HeFH.