Insider Selling: Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Insider Sells $71,046.08 in Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total value of $71,046.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,621,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,138,241.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 0.4 %

Verona Pharma stock opened at $15.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 33.33 and a current ratio of 33.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.21 and a 200-day moving average of $16.19. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.83 and a 1 year high of $23.81.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.07. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.32 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRNA. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Verona Pharma by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,467,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,821,000 after acquiring an additional 164,268 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Verona Pharma by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,493,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,645,000 after acquiring an additional 822,832 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Verona Pharma by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,593,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,645,000 after acquiring an additional 8,448 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Verona Pharma by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,377,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,390,000 after acquiring an additional 527,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $23,981,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.60.

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.