Values First Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 17,174 Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VRNA. NEA Management Company LLC grew its position in Verona Pharma by 9.3% in the second quarter. NEA Management Company LLC now owns 5,584,753 shares of the company's stock worth $80,756,000 after acquiring an additional 476,190 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 10.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,314,349 shares of the company's stock worth $47,925,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in Verona Pharma by 74.2% during the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company's stock worth $44,722,000 after buying an additional 1,316,998 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 12.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,031,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,657,000 after buying an additional 228,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 0.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,593,833 shares of the company's stock worth $25,645,000 after buying an additional 8,448 shares during the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of VRNA traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 775,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,695. The stock's 50-day moving average is $29.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of -43.97 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 8.61 and a current ratio of 8.61. Verona Pharma plc has a one year low of $11.39 and a one year high of $35.62.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.53). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.07 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 141,360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $619,156.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,672,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,885,812.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 141,360 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $619,156.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,672,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,885,812.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 868,840 shares of company stock valued at $3,805,519 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VRNA shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $39.33.

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.