Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Position in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) by 33.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,077 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,880 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.13% of Vera Therapeutics worth $3,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VERA. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. acquired a new stake in Vera Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 109.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 9,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 4,914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total transaction of $730,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,993,989.22. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 21.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VERA stock opened at $22.02 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.69. The company has a current ratio of 13.76, a quick ratio of 13.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.80 and a 52 week high of $51.61. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of -8.44 and a beta of 1.17.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.72) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.11. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VERA shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $49.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $77.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.67.

Vera Therapeutics 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.