Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives $43.83 Average Target Price from Analysts

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

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

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

VRNA opened at $42.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.29. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -21.89 and a beta of 0.46. Verona Pharma has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $43.73.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % 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 valued at $9,748,833 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. First Turn Management LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the third quarter valued at about $16,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 19.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after buying an additional 307,272 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth about $849,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $465,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $859,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Verona Pharma

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.