Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $42.00. HC Wainwright’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.75% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target 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. Roth Mkm began coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of VRNA stock opened at $54.67 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. Verona Pharma has a one year low of $11.39 and a one year high of $55.91. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 0.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 98,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $495,428.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,078,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,543,906.24. The trade was a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $494,507.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,177,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,028,252.96. This trade represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,230,392 shares of company stock valued at $5,964,338 over the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Shilanski & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $305,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,996,000 after purchasing an additional 37,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.