Investors Buy Large Volume of Verona Pharma Call Options (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 5,068 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 739% compared to the average volume of 604 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total transaction of $71,046.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,621,552 shares in the company, valued at $5,138,241.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 3.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,467,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,821,000 after acquiring an additional 164,268 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,031,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,657,000 after purchasing an additional 228,633 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,593,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,645,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verona Pharma by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,377,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,390,000 after purchasing an additional 527,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,981,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $14.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 18.40, a quick ratio of 18.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -18.78 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.12. Verona Pharma has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $23.07.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.08). On average, research analysts predict that Verona Pharma will post -1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VRNA. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $35.60.

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.