Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA Shares Purchased by Millennium Management LLC

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma PLC by 69.0%, acquiring an additional 132,097 shares, bringing their total ownership to 323,545 shares valued at approximately $20.54 million.
• Insider transactions revealed that Verona Pharma's General Counsel, Andrew Fisher, sold 80,000 shares while CEO David Zaccardelli sold 208,912 shares, reducing their ownership positions by 18.18% and 1.54%, respectively.
• Verona Pharma reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.13, exceeding analysts' estimates, while the company has a market cap of $8.71 billion with a current ratio of 10.71.

Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 69.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,545 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 132,097 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.40% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $20,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Advisors Preferred LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 65.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at approximately $100,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share

In related news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 80,000 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction on 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 $4,150,788.47. This trade represents a 18.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 208,912 shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $2,745,103.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,376,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,762,532.16. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 620,584 shares of company stock worth $8,025,674 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $106.43 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $104.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.43. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 1-year low of $27.54 and a 1-year high of $106.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 10.71 and a quick ratio of 10.54. The firm has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.50 and a beta of 0.14.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on 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, Piper Sandler downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.

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