HC Wainwright Boosts Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target to $36.00

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price objective lifted by HC Wainwright from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

VRNA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $35.60.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $14.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.13. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 18.40, a current ratio of 18.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Verona Pharma has a 12-month low of $11.39 and a 12-month high of $23.07.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.08). On average, research analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total transaction of $71,046.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,621,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,138,241.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 950.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. Matisse Capital bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $312,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,322 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.