Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 33.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at approximately $218,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,526,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 150.3% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 9,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,338 shares of the company's stock worth $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,332,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,550. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.51 and a beta of 0.24. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52-week low of $18.51 and a 52-week high of $105.30. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $87.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The business had revenue of $98.65 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRNA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BTIG Research 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. Cowen lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 400,000 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,278,992 shares of the company's stock, valued at $139,980,508.80. The trade was a 3.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 80,000 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.53, for a total value of $922,400.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 359,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,150,788.47. The trade was a 18.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,965,800 shares of company stock valued at $20,056,881 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.