Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) gapped up before the market opened on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.19, but opened at $26.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Vera Therapeutics shares last traded at $27.7480, with a volume of 558,182 shares changing hands.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vera Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestal Point Capital LP grew its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 132.6% during the first quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,000 shares in the last quarter. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Vera Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $13,097,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,754,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,212,000 after purchasing an additional 377,783 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 89.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 714,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,832,000 after purchasing an additional 336,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,044,000. Institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Up 16.0%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 12.21 and a quick ratio of 12.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.98 and a beta of 1.22.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($1.26) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.20) by ($0.06). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.85) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.