Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $106.93 and last traded at $106.91, with a volume of 1871055 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $106.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRNA. Roth Capital downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $107.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to 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 Trading Up 0.1%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of -107.99 and a beta of 0.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.27.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.41 million. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share had a negative net margin of 36.62% and a negative return on equity of 21.12%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In related news, Director Mahendra Shah sold 3,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $47,409.12. Following the sale, the director directly owned 93,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,222.08. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $25,018.56. Following the sale, the director owned 880,499 shares in the company, valued at $11,569,756.86. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 540,584 shares of company stock worth $7,103,274 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 7,135.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 116,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,405,000 after buying an additional 115,019 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter worth approximately $100,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter worth approximately $357,000. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter worth approximately $540,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share 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.