Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Stock

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $64.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 70.26% from the company’s current price.

VRNA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

VRNA stock opened at $37.59 on Tuesday. Verona Pharma has a one year low of $11.39 and a one year high of $39.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $31.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of -19.58 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 8.61, a quick ratio of 8.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released 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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million for 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, analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated 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 $65,237,752.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,237,752.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 116,696 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $511,128.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,973,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,202,896.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,139,544 shares of company stock valued at $4,992,952 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,998 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth approximately $11,177,000. NEA Management Company LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 56.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 878,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after purchasing an additional 317,184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 10.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,314,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,925,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.