Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA) is Watchtower Advisors LP's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Watchtower Advisors LP has reduced its stake in Verona Pharma PLC by 38.6%, now holding 145,338 shares, which represents 6.7% of their portfolio.
• Verona Pharma recently reported earnings of $0.13 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and generating $103.14 million in revenue for the quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes CFO Mark W. Hahn and Director Kenneth Cunningham selling a combined total of 219,720 shares recently, indicating notable movements within the company's leadership.

Watchtower Advisors LP trimmed its position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 38.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,338 shares of the company's stock after selling 91,435 shares during the quarter. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share comprises approximately 6.7% of Watchtower Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Watchtower Advisors LP owned about 0.18% of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share worth $9,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,833,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,150,000 after acquiring an additional 498,338 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share during the fourth quarter worth $84,568,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,667,165 shares of the company's stock worth $77,466,000 after purchasing an additional 624,370 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 1,485,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,975,000 after buying an additional 51,322 shares during the period. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 887,580 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,219,000 after buying an additional 201,535 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VRNA. 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 on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial lowered Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $107.00 target price (up previously from $90.00) on shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Roth Capital 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.40, for a total value of $4,560,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,190,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $150,367,915.20. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 58,336 shares of the business'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 $766,535.04. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,220,584 shares of company stock valued at $24,613,268. Insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $105.21. 1,403,377 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,301,713. The company has a quick ratio of 10.54, a current ratio of 10.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a twelve month low of $23.79 and a twelve month high of $105.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.27 and a beta of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.18.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. Analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 earnings per share 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.