Insider Selling: Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Insider Sells $1,176,000.00 in Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Verona Pharma stock opened at $39.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.78 and a beta of 0.42. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.46 and a 200-day moving average of $25.09. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.