EMC Capital Management Purchases 3,400 Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 3,400.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring 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 and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at $169,000. Shilanski & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at about $305,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth about $209,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 162,800 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $815,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,204,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,165,807.52. This trade represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total value of $1,176,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,129,816 shares of company stock valued at $5,523,815 in the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRNA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.14.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNA opened at $57.24 on Friday. Verona Pharma plc has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $58.42. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.88.

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