Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CEO Sells $338,040.00 in Stock

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) CEO David Zaccardelli sold 67,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $338,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,007,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,039,080. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Friday, December 6th, David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $815,628.00.
• On Monday, December 2nd, David Zaccardelli sold 3,200 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $16,000.00.
• On Friday, November 29th, David Zaccardelli sold 98,888 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $495,428.88.
• On Wednesday, November 27th, David Zaccardelli sold 23,240 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $116,200.00.
• On Monday, November 11th, David Zaccardelli sold 2,400 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $12,000.00.
• 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 transaction 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 shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $70.08.
• On Monday, October 21st, David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of Verona Pharma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $483,797.28.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Verona Pharma stock opened at $40.50 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.37. 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 $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of -21.09 and a beta of 0.46.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock 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 stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $43.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NEA Management Company LLC grew its stake in Verona Pharma by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,756,000 after acquiring an additional 476,190 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position 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 valued at $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,048,000 after buying an additional 307,272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

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.