Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives “Buy” Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $57.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $44.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on VRNA. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Verona Pharma stock opened at $46.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.06 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.88 and its 200-day moving average is $31.21. 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 has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $51.80.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,076,533.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,004,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,721,549.60. This represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,722,000 after buying an additional 1,316,998 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,966,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,740,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,085,000 after buying an additional 612,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,483,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.