Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 392,951 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the previous session’s volume of 889,447 shares.The stock last traded at $41.51 and had previously closed at $42.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VERA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded Vera Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.56.

Vera Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.44 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.40 and a 200 day moving average of $38.89. The company has a quick ratio of 21.43, a current ratio of 21.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.62) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.06). As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vera Therapeutics news, Director Beth C. Seidenberg sold 1,177 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.01, for a total transaction of $49,445.77. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 160,376 shares in the company, valued at $6,737,395.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 15,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $585,937.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,548,950. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Beth C. Seidenberg sold 1,177 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.01, for a total value of $49,445.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 160,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,395.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,398 shares of company stock worth $3,655,713 over the last three months. 21.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 20.8% in the first 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 during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 13.5% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 30.0% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

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.