Investors Buy Large Volume of Veru Call Options (NASDAQ:VERU)

Veru Inc. (NASDAQ:VERU) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 9,142 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 206% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,983 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $3.00 price objective on shares of Veru in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael L. Rankowitz bought 95,279 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $0.55 per share, with a total value of $52,403.45. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 195,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,403.45. The trade was a 95.28 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 14.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veru

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Veru by 181.6% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,120,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 722,644 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Veru by 309.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 184,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 139,617 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Veru by 4.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,072,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 84,483 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Veru by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,940,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 131,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Veru by 142.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 96,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 56,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.16% of the company’s stock.

Veru Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VERU opened at $0.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $70.59 million, a P/E ratio of -1.85 and a beta of -0.46. Veru has a fifty-two week low of $0.45 and a fifty-two week high of $1.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.71.

Veru (NASDAQ:VERU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.01. Veru had a negative net margin of 223.85% and a negative return on equity of 112.75%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veru will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

About Veru

Veru Inc, a late clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing medicines for treatment of metabolic diseases, oncology, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Its marketed products comprise FC2 female condom for the dual protection against unplanned pregnancy and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections.