Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given New $42.00 Price Target at HC Wainwright

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at HC Wainwright from $36.00 to $42.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target suggests a potential upside of 10.09% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.50.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma stock opened at $38.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 8.61 and a quick ratio of 8.61. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -24.77 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.33. Verona Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $39.38.

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 company had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -2.07 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 141,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $619,156.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,672,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,885,812.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 141,360 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $619,156.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,672,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,885,812.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,237,752.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 868,840 shares of company stock valued at $3,805,519. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the 3rd 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. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at approximately $154,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by 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.