Shilanski & Associates Inc. Buys New Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Shilanski & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 37.1% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 5,691 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,601,617.36. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of the firm’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 $815,628.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 14,204,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,165,807.52. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,225,592 shares of company stock worth $5,943,314 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $54.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.41 and its 200 day moving average is $33.65. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma plc has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $55.91.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share 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.