Leerink Partners Begins Coverage on Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA)

Equities research analysts at Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners’ price objective points to a potential upside of 26.91% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on VERA. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $125.00 target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vera Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.86.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ VERA opened at $26.79 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -4.57 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 10.92, a quick ratio of 10.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Vera Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $23.05 and a 12 month high of $56.05.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($1.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.58) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.20) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Vera Therapeutics will post -6.45 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 18,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.00, for a total value of $684,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 235,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,704,028. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 15.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $631,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 1,579.2% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 108,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,640,000 after buying an additional 101,699 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 569.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 104,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,503,000 after buying an additional 89,253 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 12.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

About Vera Therapeutics

Vera Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immune-mediated diseases. The company’s lead product candidate is atacicept, an investigational fusion protein designed to inhibit two immune signaling molecules, B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), which contribute to the survival and activity of antibody-producing B cells.

Vera is primarily studying atacicept as a potential treatment for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgA nephropathy), a chronic kidney disorder caused by the buildup of IgA immune complexes.