Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) is Affinity Asset Advisors LLC's 6th Largest Position

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 660,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Verona Pharma accounts for approximately 4.1% of Affinity Asset Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.83% of Verona Pharma worth $30,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. EMC Capital Management lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $74.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $661,854.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,608,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,784,949.60. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.92. 740,935 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,780. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.69 and a beta of 0.16. Verona Pharma plc has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $70.40.

Verona Pharma 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.