GSA Capital Partners LLP Has $1.30 Million Stock Position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP has reduced its stake in Verona Pharma PLC by 61.5%, owning 20,526 shares after selling 32,846 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have downgraded Verona Pharma's shares from "strong-buy" to "hold," with a new consensus price target of $109.00 following several ratings changes.
• CEO David Zaccardelli and CFO Mark W. Hahn both sold 400,000 shares at an average price of $11.40, resulting in a significant decrease in their ownership stakes.

GSA Capital Partners LLP reduced its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 61.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,526 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,846 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share were worth $1,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at $284,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 67,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,117,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 366.0% in the 1st 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, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VRNA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $107.00 target price (down from $140.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Truist Financial cut shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total value of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,546,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,459,883.04. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $150,367,915.20. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,794,984 shares of company stock worth $18,524,153 in the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of VRNA traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.18. The company had a trading volume of 3,151,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,018,423. The company's 50 day moving average price is $94.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.86. The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.59 and a beta of 0.12. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52 week low of $18.51 and a 52 week high of $105.50. The company has a quick ratio of 8.73, a current ratio of 8.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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.