Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV)

Verve Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VERV) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 7,528 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,795% compared to the typical daily volume of 260 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verve Therapeutics by 189.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 3,964 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in Verve Therapeutics by 823,700.0% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Verve Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. KFG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verve Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Verve Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,000. 97.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VERV shares. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Verve Therapeutics from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Verve Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Verve Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Verve Therapeutics from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

Verve Therapeutics Stock Up 20.6 %

VERV stock opened at $4.97 on Wednesday. Verve Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $2.86 and a 52 week high of $9.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.32 million, a P/E ratio of -2.02 and a beta of 1.86.

Verve Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VERV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $13.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.94 million. Verve Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 35.23% and a negative net margin of 807.65%. On average, analysts expect that Verve Therapeutics will post -2.49 earnings per share for the current 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.