Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Receives "Sell (D-)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Verona Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:VRNA) has received a "Sell (D-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, with recent downgrades from several analysts shifting from "strong-buy" to "hold" ratings.
• The company's latest earnings report showed a profit of $0.13 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $103.14 million for the quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes significant stock sales by both the director and the CEO, indicating a decrease in their ownership stakes in the company.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

VRNA has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a 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 restated a "neutral" rating and set a $107.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, July 14th. 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA remained flat at $106.91 during trading hours on Wednesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $106.02 and its 200 day moving average is $88.52. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $31.09 and a 1-year high of $106.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.99 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a current ratio of 10.71.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.41 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In other news, Director Michael Austwick sold 11,288 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $148,324.32. Following the sale, the director owned 12,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $167,035.68. This trade represents a 47.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 208,912 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $2,745,103.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,376,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,762,532.16. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 540,584 shares of company stock valued at $7,103,274. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter worth about $284,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 366.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,486 shares of the company's stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,021 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised 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 during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,492,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. 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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