Legato Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA)

Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERA) by 56.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,454 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,831 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Vera Therapeutics were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Turn Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Turn Management LLC now owns 326,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,431,000 after buying an additional 113,550 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Vera Therapeutics by 116.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 10,916 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in Vera Therapeutics by 41.1% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 426,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,830,000 after purchasing an additional 124,197 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Vera Therapeutics by 94.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 85,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 41,394 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vera Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 361,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,717 shares during the last quarter. 99.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Vera Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $49.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Vera Therapeutics from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Vera Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Vera Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Marshall Fordyce sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.07, for a total transaction of $753,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,701,521.94. This represents a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,305,625. Corporate insiders own 21.70% of the company’s stock.

Vera Therapeutics Trading Down 19.7 %

NASDAQ:VERA opened at $27.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.52 and a beta of 1.11. Vera Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.99 and a 1 year high of $51.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 13.76 and a quick ratio of 13.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.85.

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.