Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New $638,000 Investment in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP has acquired 10,044 shares of Verona Pharma PLC, valued at approximately $638,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Several analysts downgraded Verona Pharma's stock from "strong-buy" to "hold," resulting in a consensus rating of "hold" with a price target of $109.00.
• Insider trades revealed that CFO Mark W. Hahn and CEO David Zaccardelli each sold 400,000 shares on June 11th for $4,560,000, reflecting a decrease in their ownership of the company.

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $638,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total transaction of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,190,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,367,915.20. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $766,535.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,607,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,262,182.08. This trade represents a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,220,584 shares of company stock worth $24,613,268. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen cut shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $107.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA remained flat at $105.27 during trading on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 1,101,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,175,459. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.33 and a beta of 0.12. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $24.50 and a 1-year high of $105.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a current ratio of 10.71.

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

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share 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.