HC Wainwright Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Stock

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price objective boosted by equities researchers at HC Wainwright from $75.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target points to a potential upside of 17.63% from the stock’s previous close. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Verona Pharma’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.02 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on VRNA. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Roth Mkm began coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $83.00 price target on Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $72.26 on Wednesday. Verona Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $74.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.64 and a beta of 0.16.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In other news, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total transaction of $178,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 74,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $664,004.80. This represents a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $234,126.56. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 359,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,232,737.14. This represents a 6.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 250,080 shares of company stock valued at $2,194,582. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,609 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,889,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,750,000 after buying an additional 148,656 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,833,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,150,000 after buying an additional 498,338 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth about $84,568,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,466,000 after acquiring an additional 624,370 shares in the last quarter. 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.