Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Trading 4.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) rose 4.5% during trading on Wednesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $100.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Verona Pharma traded as high as $89.90 and last traded at $90.71. Approximately 175,847 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 1,321,554 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.78.

VRNA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine research 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 a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 34,384 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $308,768.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,660,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,892,690.88. This represents a 1.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,980,508.80. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,885,800 shares of company stock valued at $19,134,481 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.2% during the first quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,457,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,539,000 after buying an additional 73,900 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,492,000 after buying an additional 1,146,609 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 1.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,866,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,491,000 after buying an additional 32,748 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at about $84,568,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,466,000 after buying an additional 624,370 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 0.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of -48.02 and a beta of 0.21. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $71.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

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.