Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 1.7 %

VRNA traded down $0.63 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.96. 89,366 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 919,730. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.58 and a beta of 0.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $31.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.59. Verona Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $39.40. The company has a quick ratio of 8.61, a current ratio of 8.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $483,797.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares in the company, valued at $65,237,752.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,894,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,237,752.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 116,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $511,128.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,973,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,202,896.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,139,544 shares of company stock worth $4,992,952 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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