Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Insider Kathleen A. Rickard Sells 114,984 Shares of Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,546,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,459,883.04. This represents a 4.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 4.2 %

VRNA stock opened at $66.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of -34.51 and a beta of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $63.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $74.18.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The business had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.47 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,609 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,889,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,750,000 after buying an additional 148,656 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,833,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,150,000 after buying an additional 498,338 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at $84,568,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,466,000 after acquiring an additional 624,370 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRNA. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, April 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

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.