Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Stock Price Down 5.8% on Insider Selling

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)’s stock price traded down 5.8% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $43.03 and last traded at $43.03. 376,845 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 910,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.66.

Specifically, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 23,125 shares of Vera Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.05, for a total value of $1,064,906.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 307,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,182,110.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VERA. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Vera Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Down 4.9 %

The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -21.19 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.40 and a 200-day moving average of $39.07. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.06). Sell-side analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $227,027,000. Kynam Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Kynam Capital Management LP now owns 3,650,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,142,000 after acquiring an additional 694,286 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $103,189,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,148,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,653,000 after acquiring an additional 515,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,231,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,571,000 after acquiring an additional 586,410 shares in the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Vera Therapeutics

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.