Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 objective for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS 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 firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of the company’s 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 $71,165,807.52. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,598,920 shares of company stock worth $7,578,491. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Verona Pharma by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% during the 4th 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 period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,996,000 after purchasing an additional 37,872 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,103,000. 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.