Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Stock

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $64.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 60.17% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 target price (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $47.67.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 6.8 %

NASDAQ:VRNA traded down $3.35 on Wednesday, hitting $46.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,689,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,088,677. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $51.80. The business's fifty day moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day moving average is $31.11. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -24.06 and a beta of 0.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other news, Director David R. Ebsworth acquired 39,360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,293,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,601,617.36. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock valued at $9,748,833. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at approximately $16,103,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company's stock worth $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at $327,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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