Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates "Overweight" Rating for Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has reaffirmed an "overweight" rating for Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) with a target price of $100.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.46% from the stock's previous close.
• Verona Pharma reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.13, significantly beating the consensus estimate, and had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter.
• The stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus target price of $109.00, as indicated by reports from multiple analysts.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price would indicate a potential downside of 6.46% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. BTIG Research lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $107.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Monday, July 14th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock remained flat at $106.91 during trading hours on Wednesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $105.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.40. The company has a current ratio of 10.71, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1 year low of $31.09 and a 1 year high of $106.93. The company has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of -107.99 and a beta of 0.05.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.41 million. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share had a negative net margin of 36.62% and a negative return on equity of 21.12%. Analysts forecast that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $766,535.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,607,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,262,182.08. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Austwick sold 11,288 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $148,324.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $167,035.68. This represents a 47.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 540,584 shares of company stock worth $7,103,274. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at $100,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at $357,000. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter worth $540,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

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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