Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Hits New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Verona Pharma PLC shares reached a new 52-week high of $105.34 during trading, indicating strong market interest with over 1.25 million shares exchanged.
• A number of analysts have downgraded the stock from "strong-buy" to "hold," leading to a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $109.00.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a significant revenue of $98.65 million, far exceeding the expected $41.47 million.
• Insider activity was notable as executives sold considerable amounts of stock, with the General Counsel selling 80,000 shares and the CEO selling 400,000 shares recently.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $105.34 and last traded at $105.29, with a volume of 1255442 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $105.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VRNA. TD Cowen lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $107.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, July 14th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.65 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 8.73 and a current ratio of 8.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.51 and a 200-day moving average of $71.30.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 80,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.53, for a total value of $922,400.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 359,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,150,788.47. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,190,168 shares in the company, valued at $150,367,915.20. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the second quarter worth $226,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the second quarter valued at about $52,000. Bingham Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the second quarter worth about $240,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 3.4% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,880 shares of the company's stock worth $1,124,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the second quarter worth about $1,433,000. Institutional investors 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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