Avanza Fonder AB Buys New Stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth about $84,568,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,025,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146,609 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,637,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,019,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,466,000 after purchasing an additional 624,370 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRNA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $87.44.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In related news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $234,126.56. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 359,993 shares in the company, valued at $3,232,737.14. The trade was a 6.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 208,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.33, for a total value of $1,947,133.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,590,168 shares in the company, valued at $126,796,267.44. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,085,800 shares of company stock worth $10,014,481. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 2.7%

Verona Pharma stock opened at $92.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.90. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $14.14 and a twelve month high of $94.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.18 and a beta of 0.21. 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 (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current 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.