American Century Companies Inc. Purchases Shares of 280,126 Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 280,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,000. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Verona Pharma at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 19.2% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 139,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 22,529 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Verona Pharma by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 67,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Verona Pharma by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 426,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,959,000 after acquiring an additional 208,100 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,855,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Verona Pharma by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,493,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,645,000 after acquiring an additional 822,832 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of VRNA opened at $16.50 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 33.33 and a current ratio of 33.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -23.91 and a beta of 0.42. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.83 and a fifty-two week high of $23.81.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.07. As a group, analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on VRNA shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

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.