19,054 Shares in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Purchased by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,054 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 1,054.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 21,384 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Verona Pharma by 3.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 74,294 shares of the company's stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 2,640 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 2.7% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 255,609 shares of the company's stock worth $4,113,000 after acquiring an additional 6,645 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 45.1% in the first quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 817,833 shares of the company's stock worth $13,159,000 after acquiring an additional 254,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 987,756 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,893,000 after buying an additional 41,154 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright raised 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.85. 1,155,655 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 934,647. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.12 and a 200 day moving average of $24.03. 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 twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $40.13.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 94,144 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.39, for a total value of $413,292.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,204,752 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,861.28. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth purchased 39,360 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,141,944 shares of company stock worth $5,004,952. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

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.