Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $44.33 Million Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 954,616 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,460 shares during the quarter. Verona Pharma accounts for 2.4% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 1.19% of Verona Pharma worth $44,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company's stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,848 shares of the company's stock worth $1,061,000 after buying an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 23,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $116,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,177,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,887,560. This represents a 0.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,090,252. This trade represents a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 952,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,743,881. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $3.77 on Friday, reaching $67.96. 2,083,517 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,510,401. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.11 and a 200-day moving average of $39.12. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $68.64. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.40 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Verona Pharma to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $57.14.

About Verona Pharma

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.