Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s Why

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)’s share price was down 4.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $44.00 and last traded at $44.13. Approximately 217,934 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 907,844 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VERA has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Scotiabank began coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vera Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.88.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of -17.59 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 13.76 and a quick ratio of 13.76.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by ($0.21). Research analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vera Therapeutics

In other news, Director Beth C. Seidenberg sold 15,000 shares of Vera Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $720,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 131,553 shares in the company, valued at $6,318,490.59. The trade was a 10.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 23,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.05, for a total transaction of $1,064,906.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 307,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,182,110.60. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,927 shares of company stock worth $3,800,796 over the last three months. 21.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 62,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,682,000 after acquiring an additional 13,500 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $479,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 3,526.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 15,762 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $469,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,148,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,653,000 after buying an additional 515,106 shares in the last quarter. 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.