Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Down 2.5% – Should You Sell?

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)’s share price traded down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $45.64 and last traded at $45.83. 105,374 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 925,925 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRNA has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright raised their price objective 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. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 1.2 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.19 and a beta of 0.46. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In related news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 14,177,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,028,252.96. This represents a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth acquired 39,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.80 per share, with a total value of $188,928.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $169,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth $209,000. 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.