Roth Mkm Begins Coverage on Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of 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 raised their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of VRNA opened at $45.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $51.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.33 and its 200-day moving average is $31.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of -23.54 and a beta of 0.40.

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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 12,936 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $64,680.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,276,000 shares in the company, valued at $71,380,000. This trade represents a 0.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,090,252. This trade represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth $169,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at $195,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.