Joan Nickerson Sells 2,777 Shares of Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) Stock

Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) insider Joan Nickerson sold 2,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.15, for a total transaction of $11,524.55. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,420 shares in the company, valued at $72,293. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Verve Therapeutics Stock Down 6.0 %

NASDAQ:VERV opened at $3.62 on Friday. Verve Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.46 and a 12-month high of $9.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.44 million, a P/E ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verve Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 139.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 222,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 129,944 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verve Therapeutics by 27.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,253,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,586,000 after acquiring an additional 903,809 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Verve Therapeutics by 28.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 572,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,769,000 after acquiring an additional 126,110 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 465.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 35,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Verve Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $500,000. Institutional investors own 97.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on VERV. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Verve Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

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.