Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Trading Up 4.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) traded up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $47.47 and last traded at $47.24. 215,435 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 1,811,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.20.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRNA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Capital upgraded Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 3.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.23 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $815,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,204,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,165,807.52. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,996,000 after buying an additional 37,872 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,103,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.