Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.57.

VRNA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

VRNA stock opened at $45.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.52. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.54 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. Verona Pharma has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $51.80.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 12,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $64,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,276,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,380,000. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,894,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,237,752.32. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,833. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NEA Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 9.3% during the second quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,756,000 after purchasing an additional 476,190 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its position 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 worth $97,356,000 after acquiring an additional 69,601 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 359.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,065 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,048,000 after acquiring an additional 307,272 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently 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.