Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA Shares Acquired by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. grew its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 2.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,661 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share makes up approximately 1.3% of Values First Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share were worth $2,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRNA. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 2.2% during the first quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,457,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,539,000 after acquiring an additional 73,900 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,866,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,491,000 after acquiring an additional 32,748 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 381.9% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,631,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,552,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,575 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 274.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,119,000 after acquiring an additional 763,353 shares during the period. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 12.9% during the first quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 1,002,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,622,000 after acquiring an additional 114,500 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $106.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of -107.99 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a current ratio of 10.71, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.27. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 12-month low of $31.09 and a 12-month high of $106.93.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $103.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.41 million. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share had a negative return on equity of 21.12% and a negative net margin of 36.62%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mahendra Shah sold 3,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $47,409.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 93,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,222.08. The trade was a 3.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Vikas Sinha sold 4,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $56,869.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 94,112 shares in the company, valued at $1,236,631.68. This trade represents a 4.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 540,584 shares of company stock worth $7,103,274. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on VRNA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $107.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share 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.