Investors Buy High Volume of Verona Pharma Put Options (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 3,994 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 120% compared to the typical volume of 1,816 put options.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 98,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $495,428.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,078,624 shares in the company, valued at $75,543,906.24. This represents a 0.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,601,617.36. This trade represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 710,888 shares of company stock worth $3,559,881. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verona Pharma

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ VRNA traded down $2.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $65.41. 1,125,728 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,490,273. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of -34.08 and a beta of 0.41. Verona Pharma has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $68.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $57.14.

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.