Affinity Asset Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA

Key Points

• Affinity Asset Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC by 6.8%, now owning approximately 615,000 shares, valued at $39 million.
• Recent analyst ratings show mixed outlooks for Verona Pharma, with Cantor Fitzgerald raising the target price to $100, while BTIG and Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to a "hold" rating.
• Insider trading activity has seen substantial sell-offs, including a sale of 400,000 shares by CFO Mark W. Hahn for approximately $4.56 million.

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 615,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 45,000 shares during the quarter. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share makes up about 3.7% of Affinity Asset Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.76% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $39,046,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRNA. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter worth $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at $72,000. Advisors Preferred LLC raised its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 65.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at $100,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VRNA has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. BTIG Research lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wolfe Research lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $766,535.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,607,472 shares in the company, valued at $34,262,182.08. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $139,980,508.80. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,154,552 shares of company stock valued at $23,983,983 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock opened at $105.62 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 10.71, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of -106.69 and a beta of 0.12. The business's 50-day moving average price is $101.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.51. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 12 month low of $24.50 and a 12 month high of $105.85.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.41 million. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share had a negative return on equity of 21.12% and a negative net margin of 36.62%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share 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.

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