Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $15.00. The stock had previously closed at $6.17, but opened at $5.86. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Verve Therapeutics shares last traded at $5.93, with a volume of 651,003 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VERV. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verve Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Institutional Trading of Verve Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Verve Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 111,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in Verve Therapeutics by 14.3% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Verve Therapeutics by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 2,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verve Therapeutics by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 2,742 shares in the last quarter. 97.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verve Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $499.26 million, a PE ratio of -2.40 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.03.

Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by $0.14. Verve Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 807.65% and a negative return on equity of 35.23%. The company had revenue of $13.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.94 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verve Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.49 EPS for the current year.

Verve Therapeutics Company Profile

Verve Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage genetic medicines company, engages in developing gene editing medicines for patients to treat cardiovascular diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is VERVE-101, a single-course gene editing treatment that permanently turns off the PCSK9 gene in the liver; and VERVE-102, a product candidate that targets the PCSK9 gene for the treatment of HeFH.