Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Roth Capital set a $83.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, February 28th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cowen began coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $74.73 on Friday. Verona Pharma has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $75.47. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.92 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.96 and its 200-day moving average is $54.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.47 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $234,126.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 359,993 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,737.14. The trade was a 6.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,608,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,784,949.60. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,064 shares of company stock worth $3,208,741 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised 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 last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter valued at about $2,012,000. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter valued at about $809,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter valued at about $7,544,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.