Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $47.29 and last traded at $47.02, with a volume of 760635 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $46.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 1.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.49 and a beta of 0.46.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,237,752.32. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth about $251,000. TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth approximately $1,758,000. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,177,000. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 67.7% in the 2nd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 44,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its position in Verona Pharma by 39.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 939,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,586,000 after purchasing an additional 263,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.