Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 7.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $45.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of -23.58 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.40. Verona Pharma has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $45.98.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,076,533.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,004,920 shares in the company, valued at $65,721,549.60. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,089,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NEA Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 9.3% during the second quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,756,000 after acquiring an additional 476,190 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 359.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after purchasing an additional 307,272 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

Verona Pharma plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases with unmet medical needs. The company's product candidate is ensifentrine, an inhaled and dual inhibitor of the phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and PDE4 enzymes that acts as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in a single compound, which is in Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and cystic fibrosis.