Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA – Get Rating) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.33.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, March 13th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $26.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, March 20th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 77,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.58, for a total value of $199,753.92. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,999,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,739,711.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 77,424 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.58, for a total transaction of $199,753.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,999,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,739,711.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Orbimed Advisors Llc sold 359,713 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.08, for a total transaction of $7,223,037.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,777,778 shares in the company, valued at $75,857,782.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,537,329 shares of company stock worth $11,837,699. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. RA Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Verona Pharma by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,050,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,831,000 after buying an additional 950,000 shares during the last quarter. Pura Vida Investments LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,022,000. NEA Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,076,000 after purchasing an additional 476,190 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $417,000. Finally, Vivo Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 4,249,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,000 shares during the last quarter.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $21.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.45 and a beta of 0.18. Verona Pharma has a 52-week low of $3.85 and a 52-week high of $26.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 11.57 and a current ratio of 11.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.74.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 7th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $0.46 million during the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Verona Pharma will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

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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.