Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Trading 3.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) shot up 3.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Piper Sandler raised their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $36.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Verona Pharma traded as high as $16.40 and last traded at $16.39. 149,155 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 493,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.80.

VRNA has been the topic of a number of other reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, March 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.60.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. Citigroup Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,841,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $118,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $165,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -23.48 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 33.33 and a current ratio of 33.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.53 and its 200-day moving average is $16.08.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.07. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.