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

Research analysts at Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm’s price objective points to a potential upside of 50.44% from the company’s current price.

VRNA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $45.20 on Friday. Verona Pharma has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $51.80. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings 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) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company 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 posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,894,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,237,752.32. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at $61,714,024.80. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,758,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Verona Pharma by 56.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 878,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,697,000 after buying an additional 317,184 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter valued at about $449,000. Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth about $723,000. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,062,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,363,000 after acquiring an additional 74,700 shares in the last quarter. 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.