Jennison Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 33.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,261,153 shares of the company's stock after selling 628,389 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 1.56% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $80,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the first quarter worth $284,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 67,126 shares of the company's stock worth $3,117,000 after buying an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $720,000 after buying an additional 9,021 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 executive officer owned 13,190,168 shares in the company, valued at $150,367,915.20. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were 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 financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $139,980,508.80. This trade represents a 3.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881 in the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

VRNA stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,964,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,026. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 8.86 and a quick ratio of 8.73. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a twelve month low of $18.51 and a twelve month high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.45 and a beta of 0.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $87.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.85.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $107.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price objective (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cowen lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

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.