Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Price Target Raised to $36.00

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $33.60.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $16.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.33 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.83 and a 52 week high of $23.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 33.33 and a current ratio of 33.33.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.07. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 71.4% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 67,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 28,071 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 40,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 14,668 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,377,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,390,000 after buying an additional 527,781 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 80,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,600,000 after buying an additional 12,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 504,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,034,000 after buying an additional 86,809 shares during the last quarter. 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.