Mark W. Hahn Sells 58,184 Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 58,184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $290,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,117,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,587,560. The trade was a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRNA traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.50. The company had a trading volume of 626,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 939,445. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $40.76. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.09 and a beta of 0.46.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. NEA Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 9.3% in the second quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,756,000 after purchasing an additional 476,190 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 36.3% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% in the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after purchasing an additional 307,272 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRNA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.