572,928 Shares in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Bought by First Turn Management LLC

First Turn Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 572,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,483,000. Verona Pharma comprises 2.6% of First Turn Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. First Turn Management LLC owned about 0.71% of Verona Pharma at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth $849,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth $465,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth $548,000. Finally, Cahill Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth $223,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of VRNA stock opened at $34.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.74. Verona Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $11.39 and a fifty-two week high of $40.13. 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 (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $5.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 249,728 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,089,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,714,024.80. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 245,784 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $1,076,533.92. Following 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 represents a 1.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,141,944 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,952 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

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.