Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA Shares Sold by Woodline Partners LP

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has decreased its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC by 41.8%, now owning 300,827 shares worth approximately $19.1 million.
• Analysts have mostly downgraded Verona Pharma's stock rating to Hold, with only two out of fourteen analysts giving it a Buy rating.
• Verona Pharma reported $0.13 earnings per share, surpassing consensus estimates, and had a revenue of $103.14 million for the last quarter.

Woodline Partners LP trimmed its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 41.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,827 shares of the company's stock after selling 215,778 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.37% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $19,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 65.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 1,599 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on VRNA shares. 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. 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. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $107.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 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 $766,535.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,607,472 shares in the company, valued at $34,262,182.08. This represents a 2.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael Austwick sold 11,288 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $148,324.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,712 shares in the company, valued at $167,035.68. This represents a 47.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 620,584 shares of company stock worth $8,025,674 over the last ninety days. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

Shares of VRNA opened at $106.37 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -107.44 and a beta of 0.14. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a fifty-two week low of $27.54 and a fifty-two week high of $106.44. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $104.19 and its 200-day moving average is $82.84.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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