Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target Raised to $75.00 at HC Wainwright

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price target hoisted by HC Wainwright from $60.00 to $75.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

VRNA has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company 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. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $62.00.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $69.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -36.27 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.05 and a 200-day moving average of $40.98. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $69.80. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at $66,601,617.36. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $815,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,204,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,165,807.52. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,120 shares of company stock valued at $2,389,065 in the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,166 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,356,000 after acquiring an additional 69,601 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146,609 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,889,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,750,000 after acquiring an additional 148,656 shares during the last quarter. 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.