Diversify Wealth Management LLC Boosts Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 21.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,766 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,512 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $1,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 70.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $169,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 920,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,416,014.40. This trade represents a 4.47 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total transaction of $1,176,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. This represents a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,371,768 shares of company stock valued at $6,583,565. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VRNA. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.57.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $51.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.40. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $55.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.98. The company has a current ratio of 13.03, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Verona Pharma

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.