HC Wainwright Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $42.00. HC Wainwright’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.63% from the stock’s previous close.

VRNA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

VRNA opened at $51.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $55.42.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David R. Ebsworth purchased 39,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.80 per share, with a total value of $188,928.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 141,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $619,156.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,672,560 shares in the company, valued at $59,885,812.80. This trade represents a 1.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,371,768 shares of company stock worth $6,583,565 in the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $169,000. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth $219,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.