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

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) was the target 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total value of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth acquired 39,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 920,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 1,383,544 shares of company stock worth $6,188,952. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. CWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $39.63 on Monday. Verona Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $40.76. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.43. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRNA shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective 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. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

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.