Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 87.89% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VRNA. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Cowen assumed coverage on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.36.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of VRNA traded down $4.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $90.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,826,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,263,752. The company has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.24 and a beta of 0.21. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $79.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.71. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $14.15 and a 1-year high of $99.01. 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 (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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The business had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. Equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,546,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,459,883.04. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $139,980,508.80. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 2.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 73,900 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,609 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,866,280 shares of the company's stock worth $118,491,000 after purchasing an additional 32,748 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP bought a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at about $84,568,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 59.9% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

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.