Barclays PLC Grows Stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA - Free Report) by 1,379.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,313 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,954 shares during the period. Barclays PLC's holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $246,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on VRNA. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, April 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verona Pharma presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.50.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 0.2%

Verona Pharma stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.69. The stock had a trading volume of 189,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,595. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.33 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.50 and a 200 day moving average of $53.99. Verona Pharma plc has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $74.18. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,784,949.60. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 90,360 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $811,432.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,377,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,107,040.48. The trade was a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,064 shares of company stock worth $3,208,741 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Verona Pharma 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.