Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Buys Shares of 1,111,096 Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,111,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,966,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Turn Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at $16,483,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Verona Pharma during the second quarter valued at about $859,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $849,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Verona Pharma in the third quarter worth about $465,000. Finally, Rosalind Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Verona Pharma by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rosalind Advisors Inc. now owns 275,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,912,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Zaccardelli sold 110,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.38, for a total value of $483,797.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 14,894,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,237,752.32. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David R. Ebsworth bought 39,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.80 per share, for a total transaction of $188,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 920,003 shares in the company, valued at $4,416,014.40. This represents a 4.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 1,141,944 shares of company stock valued at $5,004,952 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VRNA shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $37.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Verona Pharma from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Verona Pharma from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $43.83.

Verona Pharma Price Performance

VRNA opened at $39.68 on Tuesday. 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 plc has a 1 year low of $11.39 and a 1 year high of $40.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.67 and a beta of 0.42.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (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) EPS. Analysts forecast that Verona Pharma plc will post -2.11 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.