Nicholas Investment Partners LP Invests $2.14 Million in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 59,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,139,000. Nicholas Investment Partners LP owned about 0.11% of Vera Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. William Marsh Rice University acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $593,000. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 386.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 48,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 38,220 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $9,727,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vera Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $3,231,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,148,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,653,000 after acquiring an additional 515,106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 14,471 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $575,366.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 322,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,829,239.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 21.70% of the company’s stock.

Vera Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VERA opened at $35.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 21.43, a current ratio of 21.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.24 and a fifty-two week high of $50.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of -17.40 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.37.

Vera Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.06). Analysts expect that Vera Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VERA has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $107.00 price objective on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vera Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

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.