Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Director Kenneth Cunningham Sells 10,808 Shares

Key Points

• Director Kenneth Cunningham of Verona Pharma PLC sold 10,808 shares of the company's stock for a total of $142,017.12, which marked an 11.93% decrease in his position.
• The stock's current trading price is $105.40, with a market capitalization of $8.97 billion and a P/E ratio of -52.70.
• Analysts have downgraded Verona Pharma to a "hold" rating, with the average target price set at $109.00 following recent assessments by various research firms.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) Director Kenneth Cunningham sold 10,808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $142,017.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 79,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,048,256.64. This trade represents a 11.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.28. 610,545 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,298,595. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.53. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a fifty-two week low of $21.56 and a fifty-two week high of $105.50. The stock has a market cap of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.34 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 10.71 and a quick ratio of 8.73.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.14. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share had a negative net margin of 36.62% and a negative return on equity of 21.12%. The firm had revenue of $103.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.41 million. On average, research analysts expect that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,457,850 shares of the company's stock worth $219,539,000 after purchasing an additional 73,900 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,866,280 shares of the company's stock worth $118,491,000 after buying an additional 32,748 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP bought a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,568,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company's stock worth $77,466,000 after acquiring an additional 624,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 381.9% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,631,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRNA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Capital downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price objective (down from $140.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $107.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, July 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

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.