Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes Position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. has acquired a new position in Verona Pharma PLC, purchasing 118,827 shares valued at approximately $7.54 million, representing about 0.15% of the company's total shares.
• Verona Pharma reported earnings of $0.13 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, surpassing estimates significantly.
• Several investment firms have downgraded Verona Pharma’s rating to "hold" with an average target price of $107.00, reflecting cautious sentiment among analysts regarding the stock's outlook.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 118,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,544,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned 0.15% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 3,457,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,539,000 after buying an additional 73,900 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,866,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,491,000 after buying an additional 32,748 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,568,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,466,000 after buying an additional 624,370 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 381.9% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,631,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,552,000 after buying an additional 1,292,575 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wolfe Research lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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 research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

VRNA traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $106.30. 1,710,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,318,513. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.37 and a beta of 0.14. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $25.79 and a 1-year high of $106.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $103.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.51. The company has a quick ratio of 10.54, a current ratio of 10.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.41 million. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share had a negative return on equity of 21.12% and a negative net margin of 36.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $766,535.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,607,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,262,182.08. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,420,584 shares of company stock valued at $17,145,674 over the last 90 days. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share 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.