Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Cut to "Hold" at Truist Financial

Truist Financial downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Thursday. Cowen started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Finally, Roth Capital lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.45.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, hitting $104.83. 10,916,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,598,487. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $18.51 and a 1-year high of $104.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $83.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.25. The company has a current ratio of 8.86, a quick ratio of 8.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.47 million. Equities analysts expect that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 12,278,992 shares in the company, valued at $139,980,508.80. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,190,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,367,915.20. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 44.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 17,958 shares of the company's stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 65.4% during the first quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

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.