Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target Raised to $44.00 at Truist Financial

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its target price hoisted by Truist Financial from $38.00 to $44.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on VRNA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued an overweight rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $39.33.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

VRNA opened at $32.68 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 8.61 and a current ratio of 8.61. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $32.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of -21.22 and a beta of 0.44.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.88) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.53). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma will post -2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 504,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,034,000 after purchasing an additional 86,809 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 71.4% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 28,071 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322 shares during the period. Matisse Capital acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the 1st quarter worth $312,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 1,054.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 21,384 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.