Bellevue Group AG Lowers Stock Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Bellevue Group AG decreased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 568,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 651,104 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG owned approximately 0.71% of Verona Pharma worth $26,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at $21,784,949.60. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $234,126.56. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 359,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,232,737.14. This trade represents a 6.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 365,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,208,741 in the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRNA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $83.00 target price on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Cowen assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of VRNA traded down $2.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,403,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,281,859. The company has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.35 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma plc has a 12 month low of $11.39 and a 12 month high of $74.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.86.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.47 million. Equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.