Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.84, but opened at $36.88. Vera Therapeutics shares last traded at $35.09, with a volume of 141,886 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VERA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vera Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a current ratio of 13.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.89.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($0.21). On average, equities analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vera Therapeutics news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $730,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,993,989.22. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 52,500 shares of company stock worth $2,305,625 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 21.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 21.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 127.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $163,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $332,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 117.5% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 5,053 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

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.