Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.50.

VRNA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, April 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Cowen began coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 90,360 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $811,432.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,377,176 shares in the company, valued at $129,107,040.48. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were 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 $664,004.80. This represents a 21.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 365,064 shares of company stock worth $3,208,741 in the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Advisors Preferred LLC increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 65.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the first quarter worth about $100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $69.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.21 and a beta of 0.20. Verona Pharma has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $74.18. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Verona Pharma

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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