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

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $31.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, March 1st. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $33.60.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $16.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 33.33 and a quick ratio of 33.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.08. Verona Pharma has a 1 year low of $11.83 and a 1 year high of $23.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.33 and a beta of 0.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.07. On average, analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 95.1% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 426,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,959,000 after purchasing an additional 208,100 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 3.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,467,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,821,000 after purchasing an additional 164,268 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $4,566,000. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verona Pharma by 26.1% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 24,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 5,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Verona Pharma by 49.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,493,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,645,000 after buying an additional 822,832 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.