Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives $53.14 Average Target Price from Analysts

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.14.

Several brokerages recently commented on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Capital raised shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 1.6 %

Verona Pharma stock opened at $60.26 on Wednesday. Verona Pharma has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $62.00. The stock has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.39 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $47.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.70. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,601,617.36. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 952,488 shares of company stock worth $4,743,881. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew 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 period. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.