Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Stock

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $76.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's price objective points to a potential upside of 67.96% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on VRNA. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 target price (up from $92.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. TD Cowen started coverage on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $107.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $101.10.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of VRNA stock traded up $0.94 on Monday, hitting $95.26. 513,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,444,683. The company has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a PE ratio of -47.63 and a beta of 0.21. The company's fifty day moving average is $74.68 and its 200 day moving average is $62.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 8.86 and a quick ratio of 8.73. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $14.14 and a 1-year high of $96.36.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The business had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $234,126.56. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 359,993 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,737.14. This trade represents a 6.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 90,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $811,432.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,377,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $129,107,040.48. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the fourth quarter worth $720,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 67,126 shares of the company's stock worth $3,117,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 4th quarter worth about $362,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 113.4% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,265 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 12,362 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 4th quarter worth approximately $285,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share 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.

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