Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC has acquired 10,926 shares of Verona Pharma PLC, valued at approximately $694,000, during the first quarter, marking a new investment in the biopharmaceutical company.
• Verona Pharma recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.13, exceeding the consensus estimate of ($0.01), with revenues of $103.14 million, surpassing expectations by over $12 million.
• Analysts have mixed reviews on Verona Pharma's stock, with a recent downgrade from Cantor Fitzgerald to a "hold" rating while setting a price target of $100, amidst reports of insider selling.

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 10,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 108.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 30,033 shares of the company's stock worth $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 15,598 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,741 shares of the company's stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 67,126 shares of the company's stock worth $3,117,000 after purchasing an additional 14,362 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the fourth quarter worth about $720,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Price Performance

VRNA stock opened at $105.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.25 and a beta of 0.12. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a twelve month low of $23.79 and a twelve month high of $105.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $103.14 million during 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 208,912 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total value of $2,745,103.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 12,464,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,789,679.52. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the 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 $766,535.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,220,584 shares of company stock valued at $24,613,268. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective 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. BTIG Research downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Roth Capital downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.

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