Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $52.78 and last traded at $52.60, with a volume of 182175 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 3.3 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.40. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $815,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,204,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,165,807.52. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth acquired 39,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,598,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,578,491 in the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth $169,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at $219,000. 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.