Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $74.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Verona Pharma traded as high as $51.80 and last traded at $49.55, with a volume of 4240575 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.81.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on VRNA. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price 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, HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $47.67.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at $61,714,024.80. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,237,752.32. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,833 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,758,000. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 67.7% in the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 44,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 56.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 878,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,697,000 after buying an additional 317,184 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at $449,000. Finally, Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $723,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 6.8 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.32. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -24.06 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

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.