Insider Selling: Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Insider Sells 240,000 Shares of Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,090,252. This trade represents a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 0.4 %

VRNA stock opened at $39.84 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $34.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.88. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.13.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,483,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $859,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $465,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $849,000. Finally, Rosalind Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rosalind Advisors Inc. now owns 275,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,912,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on VRNA shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright increased 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, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.