GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Has $620,000 Holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 528.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,764 shares of the company's stock after purchasing 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.7% during the first quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 96,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter valued at $284,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter valued at $33,150,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 366.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 9,021 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 31.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,168 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.53, for a total value of $922,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 359,999 shares in the company, valued at $4,150,788.47. This trade represents a 18.18% 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 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 executive officer owned 13,190,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $150,367,915.20. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 price target (up from $92.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Cowen assumed coverage on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $107.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $160.00 target price on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $107.36.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $91.18. The company had a trading volume of 436,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,258,102. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 8.73 and a current ratio of 8.86. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $15.80 and a 1-year high of $99.01. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.59 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.92.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released 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. Research analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share 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.