Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Now Covered by Analysts at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on VRNA. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of VRNA opened at $45.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.54 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.52. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $51.80.

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

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total value of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,090,252. This trade represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NEA Management Company LLC grew its position in Verona Pharma by 9.3% during the second quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,756,000 after buying an additional 476,190 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew 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 period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 359.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 19.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,048,000 after purchasing an additional 307,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

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.