Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given Buy Rating at Truist Financial

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Truist Financial in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $57.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $44.00. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.16% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright increased 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA traded down $1.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.24. 367,179 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,820,135. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. Verona Pharma has a one year low of $11.39 and a one year high of $51.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.13 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.11.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,237,752.32. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 920,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,094,432 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,833 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma in the third quarter valued at $16,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,048,000 after buying an additional 307,272 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $849,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $465,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth approximately $859,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently 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.