Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Upgraded by Wolfe Research to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VERA. Guggenheim raised their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Vera Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.44.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Vera Therapeutics stock opened at $38.07 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 13.76, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.98. Vera Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $31.77 and a 1-year high of $51.61. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.59 and a beta of 1.11.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by ($0.21). As a group, analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics 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 Vera Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.94, for a total transaction of $821,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,034,117.48. This trade represents a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 52,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,305,625 in the last 90 days. 21.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 8.8% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 1,954,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,390,000 after purchasing an additional 158,451 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,004,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,415,000 after purchasing an additional 20,223 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 813,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,418,000 after purchasing an additional 366,763 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 41.1% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 426,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,830,000 after acquiring an additional 124,197 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 361,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,992,000 after acquiring an additional 10,717 shares during the period. 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.