Insider Selling: Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CFO Sells $354,641.76 in Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 80,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $354,641.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,293,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,749,501.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Verona Pharma stock opened at $38.18 on Friday. Verona Pharma plc has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $39.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.59. The company has a quick ratio of 8.61, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Verona Pharma by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 74,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.