Cantor Fitzgerald Predicts Higher Earnings for Verona Pharma

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) - Research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Verona Pharma in a report issued on Wednesday, June 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst O. Brayer now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $0.14 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $0.10. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a "Overweight" rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Verona Pharma's current full-year earnings is ($1.95) per share. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Verona Pharma's FY2026 earnings at $1.31 EPS.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.47 million.

Several other research analysts have also commented on VRNA. TD Cowen started coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.44.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of VRNA traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $92.70. 974,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,322,629. Verona Pharma has a 52-week low of $14.14 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.92. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.28 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 44.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $66,119,000 after buying an additional 763,353 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter worth about $2,012,000. Finally, Scientech Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the first quarter worth about $809,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other news, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total transaction of $178,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 74,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $664,004.80. The trade was a 21.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 34,384 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $308,768.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,660,656 shares in the company, valued at $23,892,690.88. This trade represents a 1.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,885,800 shares of company stock worth $19,134,481 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% 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.