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

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $494,507.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,177,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,028,252.96. The trade was a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $38.66 on Wednesday. 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 $40.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of -20.14 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.03 and a 200-day moving average of $25.79.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verona Pharma

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 1st quarter valued at $373,000. CWM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth $29,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 101.3% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 135,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after buying an additional 68,264 shares during the period. AMI Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth about $1,012,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter worth about $154,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRNA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. 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. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 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, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.83.

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.