Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given New $38.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price target lifted by Truist Financial from $32.00 to $38.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $35.60.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $14.46 on Friday. Verona Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $23.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $14.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.78 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 18.40 and a quick ratio of 18.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.08). On average, equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma will post -1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total transaction of $71,046.08. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,621,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,138,241.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 1st quarter worth $373,000. Ikarian Capital LLC increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Ikarian Capital LLC now owns 375,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,039,000 after purchasing an additional 7,842 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,031,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,657,000 after purchasing an additional 228,633 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,139,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,331,000 after purchasing an additional 299,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 987,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,893,000 after acquiring an additional 41,154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.