Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in Verona Pharma PLC by 30.5% during Q1, now holding approximately 1.57% of the company, valued at $80.49 million after selling 557,532 shares.
• Verona Pharma's stock trades at around $105.17 and has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion; the company's product candidate, ensifentrine, is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials.
• Insiders have sold a total of 1,794,984 shares worth over $18.5 million in the last quarter, with current insider ownership at 4.80% of the company.

Federated Hermes Inc. lowered its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 30.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,267,761 shares of the company's stock after selling 557,532 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 1.57% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $80,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 17,958 shares of the company's stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter worth about $34,000. 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 valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,914,000 after buying an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.53, for a total transaction of $922,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 359,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,150,788.47. This trade represents a 18.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,794,984 shares of company stock worth $18,524,153. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRNA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $107.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.14. 2,215,993 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,867,928. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.68. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 12 month low of $18.51 and a 12 month high of $105.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 8.86 and a quick ratio of 8.73. The firm has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of -52.57 and a beta of 0.24.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.47 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.