FORA Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 5,107 Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has made a new investment in Verona Pharma PLC, acquiring 5,107 shares valued at approximately $324,000 during the first quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes Director David R. Ebsworth and CFO Mark W. Hahn selling shares, decreasing their stakes slightly.
• Verona Pharma recently reported quarterly earnings, exceeding expectations with a revenue of $103.14 million, with analysts anticipating a negative earnings per share for the current year.

FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRNA. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 4th quarter valued at $84,568,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,716,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,019,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company's stock worth $77,466,000 after purchasing an additional 624,370 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,150,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VRNA. Piper Sandler cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. BTIG Research cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $107.00 price target (down from $140.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut 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 note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

VRNA stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.91. The stock had a trading volume of 712,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,150. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52 week low of $24.50 and a 52 week high of $105.98. The stock's 50 day moving average is $102.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.78. The company has a current ratio of 10.71, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of -106.98 and a beta of 0.14.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David R. Ebsworth sold 1,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $25,018.56. Following the transaction, the director owned 880,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,569,756.86. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 208,912 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $2,745,103.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,376,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,762,532.16. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,420,584 shares of company stock worth $17,145,674. Insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

About Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

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.