Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $721,000 Investment in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC, investing approximately $721,000 for 11,350 shares in the first quarter, highlighting significant institutional interest in the company.
• Insider activity saw General Counsel Andrew Fisher and insider Kathleen A. Rickard selling substantial shares of Verona Pharma, indicating changes in investor sentiment and potential profit-taking, with insiders having sold nearly $20 million worth of shares over the past 90 days.
• Several analysts downgraded their ratings for Verona Pharma from "strong-buy" to "hold," with Jefferies Financial Group setting a new price target of $107.00, down from $140.00, reflecting caution among analysts about the stock's future performance.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the fourth quarter worth approximately $72,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share in the first quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share by 14.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,837 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRNA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered shares of Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.00.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share Stock Performance

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $105.14. 2,215,993 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,867,928. The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.57 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 8.73 and a current ratio of 8.86. Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share has a 52-week low of $18.51 and a 52-week high of $105.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $93.07 and its 200 day moving average is $72.91.

Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.47 million. Analysts predict that Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma PLC American Depositary Share news, General Counsel Andrew Fisher sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.53, for a total value of $922,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 359,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,150,788.47. This represents a 18.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 114,984 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.82, for a total value of $1,014,158.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,546,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,459,883.04. The trade was a 4.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,794,984 shares of company stock worth $18,524,153. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.