Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given Buy Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $42.00.

VRNA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital upgraded Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $53.50 on Tuesday. Verona Pharma has a 12-month low of $11.39 and a 12-month high of $55.42. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of -27.86 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.24. 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 (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.80 per share, with a total value of $188,928.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,014.40. The trade was a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 141,360 shares of the firm’s 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 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. This trade represents a 1.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,371,752 shares of company stock worth $6,583,495. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth $169,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $195,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. 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.