Truist Financial Increases Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target to $38.00

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its target price upped by analysts at Truist Financial from $32.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 162.79% from the stock’s current price.

VRNA has been the subject of several other reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, March 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.60.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Verona Pharma stock opened at $14.46 on Friday. Verona Pharma has a 12-month low of $11.39 and a 12-month high of $23.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 18.40 and a quick ratio of 18.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $14.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.13.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.08). On average, research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total value of $71,046.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,621,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,138,241.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 50,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 33,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. 1492 Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 166,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 74,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.