Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Sold by BIT Capital GmbH

Key Points

• BIT Capital GmbH significantly reduced its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC, selling 26,423 shares and trimming its position by 83% in the 1st quarter, bringing its total to 5,407 shares.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes, with Price T Rowe Associates adding 498,338 shares and Janus Henderson increasing its holdings by 59.9% in the 4th quarter.
• The stock has received several analyst rating changes, with Cowen and Roth Capital both downgrading it from a "strong-buy" to a "hold", while the consensus rating is currently "Hold" with an average target price of $109.00.

BIT Capital GmbH decreased its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 83.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,407 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,423 shares during the period. BIT Capital GmbH's holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 4th quarter worth about $720,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 67,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,117,000 after purchasing an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 366.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,021 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VRNA. Roth Capital cut shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price target (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In related news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 9,584 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $125,933.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 417,903 shares in the company, valued at $5,491,245.42. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 208,912 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $2,745,103.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 12,464,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,789,679.52. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,220,584 shares of company stock worth $24,613,268. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded down $0.15 during trading on Thursday, reaching $105.25. The company had a trading volume of 764,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,203. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.63 and a beta of 0.12. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 12 month low of $19.75 and a 12 month high of $105.50. The company has a current ratio of 8.86, a quick ratio of 8.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $103.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.41 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share 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.