Stifel Financial Corp Acquires Shares of 16,458 Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in Verona Pharma by 359.6% during the 3rd 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. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma by 74.2% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company's stock worth $44,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,998 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at $31,966,000. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,177,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,740,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,085,000 after purchasing an additional 612,854 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,076,533.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 15,004,920 shares in the company, valued at $65,721,549.60. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $494,507.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,177,296 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,028,252.96. This trade represents a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,094,432 shares of company stock worth $9,748,833. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRNA traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.19. 699,866 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 930,079. Verona Pharma plc has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $46.97. The business's fifty day moving average price is $38.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.06 and a beta of 0.46. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS 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 analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

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.