16,150 Shares in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Purchased by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNA. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 25.4% during 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 70.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC purchased a new stake in Verona Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. EMC Capital Management acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Verona Pharma by 3.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 74,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 15,004,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,721,549.60. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,089,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,714,024.80. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,141,944 shares of company stock worth $5,004,952. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VRNA stock opened at $35.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.57 and a beta of 0.42. Verona Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.62. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $5.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 EPS 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.