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

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

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $13,090,252. The trade was 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, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,014.40. The trade was a 4.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,383,544 shares of company stock valued at $6,188,952. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. NEA Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 9.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the 3rd 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 increased its position 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 in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Verona Pharma Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $39.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.64 and a beta of 0.42. Verona Pharma has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $40.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.66 and a 200-day moving average of $25.43.

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

About Verona Pharma

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.