Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Acquired by Maverick Capital Ltd.

Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,215,973 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,123,166 shares during the period. Verona Pharma accounts for approximately 2.4% of Maverick Capital Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Maverick Capital Ltd. owned approximately 5.24% of Verona Pharma worth $121,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at $154,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $39.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $40.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $34.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of -20.64 and a beta of 0.42.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % decrease in their position. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,004,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,721,549.60. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,383,544 shares of company stock worth $6,188,952. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.