Point72 Asset Management L.P. Buys New Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 711,007 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,019,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.89% of Verona Pharma as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VRNA. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $305,000. EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 22,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $71.31 on Friday. Verona Pharma plc has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $74.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.25. The company has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of -37.14 and a beta of 0.20.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.47 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total transaction of $178,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 74,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $664,004.80. This trade represents a 21.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $661,854.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at $21,784,949.60. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 365,064 shares of company stock worth $3,208,741 over the last three months. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Capital set a $83.00 target price on Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, February 28th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Verona Pharma 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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