Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given New $93.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $74.00 to $93.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of VRNA opened at $69.63 on Friday. Verona Pharma has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $69.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -36.27 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $55.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.98. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,293,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,601,617.36. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 67,608 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $338,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,007,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,039,080. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,120 shares of company stock valued at $2,389,065 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,294,000 after buying an additional 1,123,166 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 69,601 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Verona Pharma by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146,609 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,889,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,750,000 after purchasing an additional 148,656 shares in the last quarter. 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.