Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Acquired by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 150.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,375 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,232 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% in the first 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli 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 value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,190,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,367,915.20. This trade represents a 2.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the business'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 value of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,546,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,459,883.04. This represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,965,800 shares of company stock worth $20,056,881. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.30. 1,746,334 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,637,315. 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 one year low of $18.51 and a one year high of $105.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of -52.65 and a beta of 0.24. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $90.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.30.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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. Analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on VRNA shares. Cowen lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler lowered 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. Roth Capital lowered 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.