GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,612 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $75,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NEA Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,756,000 after acquiring an additional 476,190 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its position in Verona Pharma by 36.3% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,166 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 2.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,383,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,356,000 after purchasing an additional 69,601 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 359.6% in the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 2,425,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,792,000 after buying an additional 1,898,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,878,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,048,000 after buying an additional 307,272 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRNA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,093,808.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares in the company, valued at $61,714,024.80. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,076,533.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,004,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,721,549.60. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 2.2 %

VRNA opened at $45.20 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.54 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma plc has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $51.80.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.