Piper Sandler Increases Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target to $36.00

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price target hoisted by Piper Sandler from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $33.60.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $15.72 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.08. Verona Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $11.83 and a fifty-two week high of $23.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 33.33 and a quick ratio of 33.33.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.07. On average, analysts predict that Verona Pharma will post -1.32 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 125.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position 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 valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.