Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

A number of research firms have commented on VERV. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Verve Therapeutics from $56.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Verve Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VERV opened at $5.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.76. Verve Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $4.59 and a 1-year high of $21.04. The company has a market cap of $476.05 million, a PE ratio of -1.98 and a beta of 1.83.

Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.59) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by $0.11. Verve Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 37.35% and a negative net margin of 1,226.51%. The firm had revenue of $5.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 million. Verve Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 305.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Verve Therapeutics will post -2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew D. Ashe acquired 76,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.26 per share, for a total transaction of $475,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 342,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,144,106.34. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 19.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verve Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VERV. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Verve Therapeutics by 2,258.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 16,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verve Therapeutics by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. 97.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.