Guggenheim Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) Stock

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) had its target price raised by research analysts at Guggenheim from $59.00 to $61.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Guggenheim’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 109.98% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VERA. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $49.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vera Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.11.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

VERA stock traded up $1.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.05. 84,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 894,502. Vera Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $25.99 and a twelve month high of $51.61. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.13 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.43.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last announced 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vera Therapeutics will post -2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vera Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.07, for a total transaction of $753,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,942 shares in the company, valued at $3,701,521.94. The trade was a 16.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 52,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,305,625 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 21.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vera Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank acquired a new position in Vera Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vera Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Vera Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.