Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $44.44 and last traded at $43.47, with a volume of 136062 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Verona Pharma Stock Up 3.7 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.69 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.72 and a 200 day moving average of $28.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at $66,601,617.36. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth approximately $849,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $859,000. Hedge funds and other 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.