Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Short Interest Update

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,220,000 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the December 31st total of 6,900,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 80,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $354,641.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,293,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,749,501.04. This represents a 0.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 94,144 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $413,292.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,204,752 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,861.28. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,129,816 shares of company stock valued at $5,523,815 over the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $169,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at $195,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 0.1 %

VRNA stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $57.30. 1,088,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,421,411. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.84 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $58.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.92 and a 200-day moving average of $35.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRNA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Capital raised shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.14.

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.