Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Reduces Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 62.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,942 shares of the company's stock after selling 157,810 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC owned 0.12% of Verona Pharma worth $4,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at $449,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the second quarter valued at about $195,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 527,640 shares of the company's stock worth $7,630,000 after buying an additional 23,567 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at $859,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Verona Pharma by 58.8% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 405,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,868,000 after buying an additional 150,210 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital raised Verona Pharma to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price target (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm started coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.14.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In related news, Director David R. Ebsworth acquired 39,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 920,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,601,617.36. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,129,816 shares of company stock valued at $5,523,815 in the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.30. 1,088,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,421,411. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.29. 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 $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.84 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma plc has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $58.42.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS 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.