Deep Track Capital LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Deep Track Capital LP lessened its holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 73.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 850,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,330,025 shares during the period. Verona Pharma comprises 1.5% of Deep Track Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Deep Track Capital LP owned approximately 1.06% of Verona Pharma worth $39,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management grew its stake 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 valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital set a $83.00 target price on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 4.4 %

VRNA traded down $2.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,937,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,285,923. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock's 50 day moving average is $63.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.00 and a beta of 0.20. Verona Pharma plc has a one year low of $11.39 and a one year high of $74.18.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.47 million. As a group, analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $178,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 74,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $664,004.80. This trade represents a 21.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 26,072 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $234,126.56. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 359,993 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 sold 365,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,208,741 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

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.