GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Grows Position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 528.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,764 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 8,211 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share were worth $620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of VRNA. Keybank National Association OH purchased a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth about $300,000. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth approximately $243,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth approximately $284,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 3,074.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,158 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,964 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $160.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $107.36.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares in the company, valued at $139,980,508.80. This represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total transaction of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,546,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,459,883.04. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock valued at $20,056,881. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

NASDAQ VRNA traded down $4.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $86.86. 1,360,244 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,253,732. The business's fifty day moving average price is $81.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.58. The company has a current ratio of 8.86, a quick ratio of 8.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.43 and a beta of 0.24. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52 week low of $16.61 and a 52 week high of $99.01.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The business had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.47 million. Equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

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.