Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires New Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,111,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,966,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 1.39% of Verona Pharma as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth $29,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma in the second quarter worth about $154,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.80 per share, with a total value of $188,928.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,671,480 shares in the company, valued at $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,383,544 shares of company stock valued at $6,188,952 in the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.84. 930,124 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 938,694. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.75 and a beta of 0.42.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS for the current year.

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.