Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Evercore ISI

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) was upgraded by Evercore ISI to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

VERA has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $107.00 price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERA opened at $40.02 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of -19.52 and a beta of 0.99. Vera Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $9.24 and a fifty-two week high of $50.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 21.43 and a current ratio of 21.43.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.06). As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics will post -2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 15,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $585,937.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 307,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,548,950. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 21.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VERA. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 14.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 13.5% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Vera Therapeutics by 30.0% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. grew its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 19,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,957 shares during the period. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.