Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Stock Price

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $74.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $46.20 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.06 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $51.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03.

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 company had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. 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 162,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $815,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,204,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,165,807.52. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.80 per share, with a total value of $188,928.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Turn Management LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth $16,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after buying an additional 307,272 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $849,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $465,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $859,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% 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.