Cetera Investment Advisers Has $1.08 Million Stock Holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 113.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,265 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,362 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $1,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 3,400.0% in the 4th 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 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verona Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 79,264 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total transaction of $661,854.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,608,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,784,949.60. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vikas Sinha sold 20,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.92, for a total value of $178,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 74,440 shares in the company, valued at $664,004.80. The trade was a 21.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 365,064 shares of company stock valued at $3,208,741. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verona Pharma Trading Down 1.9%

NASDAQ VRNA opened at $72.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.86 and a beta of 0.20. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $75.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.34 and its 200 day moving average is $55.30. 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 Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.49. The company had revenue of $98.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.47 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on VRNA shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $93.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Verona Pharma in a report on Monday, April 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $44.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

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.