Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Verona Pharma PLC's American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from 15 research firms, with one sell recommendation, twelve holds, and two buy recommendations.
• The average 12-month price target for VRNA shares among analysts is $109.00, with recent performance showing a one-year low of $31.09 and a high of $106.93.
• Insider trading activity includes substantial share sales by two executives, indicating a decrease in their ownership positions, with a total of 540,584 shares sold over the last 90 days.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on VRNA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $107.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Cowen lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of VRNA stock opened at $106.91 on Monday. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $31.09 and a 1-year high of $106.93. The company has a current ratio of 10.71, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.99 and a beta of 0.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $106.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.43.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael Austwick sold 11,288 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $148,324.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $167,035.68. This represents a 47.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $766,535.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,607,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,262,182.08. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 540,584 shares of company stock worth $7,103,274 over the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 73,900 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.8% during the 1st 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 during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 381.9% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,631,000 shares of the company's stock worth $103,552,000 after buying an additional 1,292,575 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,562,467 shares of the company's stock worth $147,778,000 after buying an additional 30,119 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,159,662 shares of the company's stock worth $109,681,000 after buying an additional 146,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

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.

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