Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives $43.83 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $43.83.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, Director David R. Ebsworth purchased 39,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,383,544 shares of company stock worth $6,188,952. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth $154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $39.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.78 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.09. Verona Pharma has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $40.13.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. Analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.