Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA Shares Acquired 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 raised its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 69.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 323,545 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 132,097 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $20,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter worth $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth $72,000. Advisors Preferred LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter valued at $100,000. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Trading Down 0.0%

VRNA stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $106.26. 1,520,845 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,376,751. The business's 50 day moving average price is $105.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.52. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52-week low of $27.54 and a 52-week 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 capitalization of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of -107.33 and a beta of 0.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Vikas Sinha sold 4,328 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $56,869.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 94,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,236,631.68. This represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth sold 1,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $25,018.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 880,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,569,756.86. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 540,584 shares of company stock valued at $7,103,274. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Roth Capital lowered 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 lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.00.

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.