Diversify Advisory Services LLC Has $279,000 Stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,166 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Verona Pharma by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 5,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on VRNA. 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Verona Pharma in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Roth Capital raised shares of Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.14.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 46,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $205,369.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 183,728 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.01, for a total value of $920,477.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,293,736 shares in the company, valued at $66,601,617.36. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,230,392 shares of company stock worth $5,964,338. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Verona Pharma Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of VRNA opened at $54.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. Verona Pharma plc has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $55.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.06 and its 200-day moving average is $33.50.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last posted its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.