Townsquare Capital LLC Invests $507,000 in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at $29,000. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 37.1% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Verona Pharma

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $483,797.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares in the company, valued at $65,237,752.32. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 98,704 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total transaction of $494,507.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,177,296 shares in the company, valued at $71,028,252.96. This trade represents a 0.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,622,112 shares of company stock worth $7,383,768 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $39.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.76 and a beta of 0.46. Verona Pharma plc has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $40.76.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.