Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CFO Mark W. Hahn Sells 98,704 Shares

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $494,507.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,177,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,028,252.96. The trade was a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $39.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.89. Verona Pharma plc has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $40.76. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.76 and a beta of 0.46.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued 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 company had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,065 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 74.2% during the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,998 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,966,000. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,177,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,740,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,085,000 after acquiring an additional 612,854 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VRNA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.