Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $90.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Verona Pharma traded as high as $83.41 and last traded at $82.46, with a volume of 156569 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.20.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on VRNA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cowen started coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,784,949.60. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $234,126.56. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 359,993 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,737.14. The trade was a 6.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,165,064 shares of company stock worth $10,676,335 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter worth $48,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 44.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 274.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,119,000 after acquiring an additional 763,353 shares during the period. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter valued at $2,012,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter valued at $809,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 3.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.80 and a beta of 0.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.49.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.