Glenmede Trust Co. NA Lowers Stock Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Glenmede Trust Co. NA lowered its stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,251 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,565 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maverick Capital Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 74.2% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 3,092,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316,998 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,966,000. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,177,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 54.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,740,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,085,000 after purchasing an additional 612,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth about $16,483,000. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VRNA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.83.

Insider Activity at Verona Pharma

In other Verona Pharma news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total transaction of $1,093,808.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. The trade was a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,076,533.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,004,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,721,549.60. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,622,112 shares of company stock worth $7,383,768. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

VRNA stock opened at $39.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.76. The company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.37 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.61.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced 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 business had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 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.