Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Short Interest Down 20.5% in November

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) saw a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,980,000 shares, a decline of 20.5% from the October 31st total of 7,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. This trade represents a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,383,544 shares of company stock valued at $6,188,952. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NEA Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,756,000 after acquiring an additional 476,190 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,294,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,166 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after purchasing an additional 307,272 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of VRNA opened at $39.63 on Friday. Verona Pharma has a 12-month low of $11.39 and a 12-month high of $40.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of -20.64 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.35. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

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.