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

Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.00.

VERV has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Verve Therapeutics from $56.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verve Therapeutics news, insider Andrew D. Ashe bought 76,000 shares of Verve Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.26 per share, for a total transaction of $475,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 342,509 shares in the company, valued at $2,144,106.34. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 19.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verve Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PBCay One RSC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 97.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verve Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VERV opened at $4.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $418.12 million, a PE ratio of -1.74 and a beta of 1.83. Verve Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $4.59 and a 1 year high of $21.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.07.

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

About Verve Therapeutics

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.