Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives $43.83 Consensus PT from Brokerages

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

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

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $38.81 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.53. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.21 and a beta of 0.42. Verona Pharma has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $40.13.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, Director David R. Ebsworth acquired 39,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.80 per share, with a total value of $188,928.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 920,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,076,533.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,004,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,721,549.60. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,141,944 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,952 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the third 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. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth $154,000. 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.