Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Up 4.9%

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)’s stock price shot up 4.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $16.64 and last traded at $16.48. 44,083 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 515,261 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRNA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 33.33 and a quick ratio of 33.33. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.20.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.07. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 50,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 33,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 32,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Company Profile

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.