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

Key Points

• Verona Pharma PLC's American Depositary Shares have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 14 analysts, with 12 holding and 2 issuing buy ratings.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.13, surpassing estimates and generating revenue of $103.14 million, which exceeded analyst predictions.
• Insiders sold a total of 2,220,584 shares valued at approximately $24.6 million in recent transactions, indicating a 4.80% ownership by company insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $109.00.

VRNA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $105.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 10.71 and a quick ratio of 10.54. The company has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of -106.63 and a beta of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $100.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.07. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $24.50 and a 1-year high of $105.85.

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

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,190,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,367,915.20. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $766,535.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,607,472 shares in the company, valued at $34,262,182.08. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,220,584 shares of company stock valued at $24,613,268. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,940 shares of the company's stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 630 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,675 shares of the company's stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,880 shares of the company's stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 6,495 shares of the company's stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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