Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) Shares Bought by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 27.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,126 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.08% of Verona Pharma worth $3,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the third quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at $225,000. 85.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,608,976 shares in the company, valued at $21,784,949.60. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Verona Pharma from $74.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.43.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 2.1 %

VRNA opened at $63.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.97 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 12.88 and a current ratio of 13.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.09. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $70.40.

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.