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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 4th quarter worth about $72,000. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $150,367,915.20. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn 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 value of $4,560,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $139,980,508.80. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VRNA. TD Cowen downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Cowen cut shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock opened at $104.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.73, a current ratio of 8.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $86.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.28. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52-week low of $18.51 and a 52-week high of $104.99. The company has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.39 and a beta of 0.24.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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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