Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Down 3.1% – Time to Sell?

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) shares traded down 3.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $51.09 and last traded at $51.99. 338,511 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,768,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 3.3 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $42.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.86. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $494,507.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,177,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,028,252.96. The trade was a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,237,752.32. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,598,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,578,491 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 4,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 37.1% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 5,691 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is 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.