Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Sold by Kennedy Capital Management LLC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,442 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $1,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Verona Pharma by 0.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,593,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,645,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,377,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,390,000 after purchasing an additional 527,781 shares in the last quarter. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at $23,981,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in Verona Pharma by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,139,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,331,000 after purchasing an additional 299,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 987,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,893,000 after buying an additional 41,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Verona Pharma from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.00.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

Shares of VRNA traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.52. The stock had a trading volume of 116,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 852,175. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.34. Verona Pharma plc has a 52 week low of $11.39 and a 52 week high of $23.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.61 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 18.40 and a quick ratio of 18.40.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.08). On average, analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total transaction of $71,046.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,621,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,138,241.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

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.