Woodline Partners LP Reduces Position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share $VRNA

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 cut its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 41.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 300,827 shares of the company's stock after selling 215,778 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.37% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $19,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 274.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,041,408 shares of the company's stock worth $66,119,000 after purchasing an additional 763,353 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd bought a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,012,000. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter worth approximately $809,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,544,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on VRNA. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered 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. Truist Financial lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 208,912 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $2,745,103.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,376,144 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,762,532.16. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth sold 1,904 shares of the company's 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 $25,018.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 880,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,569,756.86. This trade represents a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 540,584 shares of company stock valued at $7,103,274. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.34. The company had a trading volume of 542,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,165,251. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52-week low of $27.54 and a 52-week high of $106.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $105.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.94. The stock has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.41 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a current ratio of 10.71, a quick ratio of 10.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $103.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.41 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.