Hood River Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,485,256 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,322 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $68,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Verona Pharma by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $75.43.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $62.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.00. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $70.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.30 and a beta of 0.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,784,949.60. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.