Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 61.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,025,241 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,146,609 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 3.74% of Verona Pharma worth $140,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Verona Pharma
In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $661,854.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,608,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,784,949.60. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
VRNA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Verona Pharma from $74.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $69.14.
View Our Latest Report on Verona Pharma
Verona Pharma Stock Up 3.2 %
NASDAQ VRNA traded up $1.75 on Tuesday, reaching $56.05. 654,249 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,477,011. Verona Pharma plc has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $70.40. 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 fifty day moving average price of $62.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.70. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.18 and a beta of 0.16.
Verona Pharma Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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