PFG Investments LLC Sells 7,100 Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

PFG Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,100 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $1,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shilanski & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter worth about $305,000. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 193,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,996,000 after buying an additional 37,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target (up previously from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,293,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,601,617.36. This trade represents a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 46,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $205,369.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,298,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,009,164.48. This represents a 0.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,225,592 shares of company stock valued at $5,943,314 over the last quarter. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Verona Pharma Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA opened at $53.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 12.88, a current ratio of 13.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $55.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.29.

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