Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter worth $218,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter worth $31,526,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 150.3% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,375 shares of the company's stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 9,232 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 13.9% during the first quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,338 shares of the company's stock worth $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 6.9% during the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 25,129 shares of the company's stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut 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. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 target price (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 downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded 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. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $107.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Eleven research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRNA remained flat at $104.90 on Monday. 2,726,328 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,727,039. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.00. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1 year low of $18.51 and a 1 year high of $105.30. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,980,508.80. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,190,168 shares in the company, valued at $150,367,915.20. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881 in the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.