EMC Capital Management Raises Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 3,400.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 4,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $494,507.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,177,296 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,028,252.96. The trade was a 0.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,129,816 shares of company stock valued at $5,523,815 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on VRNA. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $57.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $58.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.88.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.