Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Trading 5.3% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) was up 5.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $59.74 and last traded at $60.32. Approximately 939,785 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 1,542,401 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VRNA shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.96 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.99. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of Verona Pharma 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,204,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,165,807.52. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total value of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 954,888 shares of company stock valued at $4,755,881 over the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,294,000 after buying an additional 1,123,166 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its holdings 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 worth $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,889,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,750,000 after purchasing an additional 148,656 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after purchasing an additional 307,272 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.