Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Up 5.3% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) shot up 5.3% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $59.74 and last traded at $60.32. 939,785 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 1,542,401 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRNA shares. Roth Capital raised shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.96 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.99.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $815,628.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,204,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,165,807.52. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,177,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,028,252.96. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 954,888 shares of company stock worth $4,755,881. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at about $305,000. First Turn Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,483,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter valued at approximately $849,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,048,000 after acquiring an additional 307,272 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth approximately $465,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.