Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) in a report published on Wednesday, RTT News reports. The firm currently has a $33.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, September 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $28.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, September 11th. Finally, 500.com restated a reiterates rating on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $32.60.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $17.61 on Wednesday. Verona Pharma has a 1 year low of $8.41 and a 1 year high of $26.44. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a PE ratio of -23.48 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 26.29 and a quick ratio of 26.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.69 and its 200 day moving average is $20.48.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.16. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, General Counsel Claire Poll sold 18,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.68, for a total value of $49,869.44. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 1,968,783 shares in the company, valued at $5,276,338.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, General Counsel Claire Poll sold 18,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.68, for a total value of $49,869.44. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 1,968,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,276,338.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 19,736 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.68, for a total transaction of $52,892.48. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,966,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,949,952. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 568,200 shares of company stock worth $1,460,799. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3.6% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 30.3% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 7.4% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 21,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 0.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 347,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cahill Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 23.5% during the first quarter. Cahill Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.89% of the company’s stock.

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.