Insider Selling: Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CEO Sells 2,400 Shares of Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CEO David Zaccardelli sold 2,400 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $12,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,202,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,011,760. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

David Zaccardelli also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 4th, David Zaccardelli sold 94,144 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $413,292.16.
• On Friday, November 1st, David Zaccardelli sold 46,888 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $205,369.44.
• On Friday, October 25th, David Zaccardelli sold 4,800 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $21,024.00.
• On Wednesday, October 23rd, David Zaccardelli sold 16 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $70.08.
• On Monday, October 21st, David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $483,797.28.
• On Friday, October 18th, David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,076,533.92.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of VRNA stock traded down $2.07 on Wednesday, reaching $36.93. The stock had a trading volume of 822,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 928,669. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.00 and a beta of 0.42. 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 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.30.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRNA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth about $154,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.