Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.17), Zacks reports.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

VRNA traded up $3.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $67.12. 2,869,930 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,599,903. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.96 and a beta of 0.41. Verona Pharma has a one year low of $11.39 and a one year high of $69.80. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $53.98 and its 200 day moving average is $40.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRNA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 67,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $338,040.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,007,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,039,080. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $920,477.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,601,617.36. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 674,712 shares of company stock valued at $3,379,001 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.