Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given New $93.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $74.00 to $93.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on VRNA. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $69.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.27 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.98. Verona Pharma has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $69.80.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $920,477.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,293,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,601,617.36. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 67,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $338,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,007,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,039,080. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 477,120 shares of company stock worth $2,389,065. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. Shilanski & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth $305,000. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter valued at about $16,483,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $849,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after buying an additional 307,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $465,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.