Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Sells 30,460 Shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 954,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,460 shares during the period. Verona Pharma makes up about 2.4% of Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 1.19% of Verona Pharma worth $44,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VRNA. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verona Pharma during the third quarter worth about $209,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 155,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,483,000 after purchasing an additional 20,206 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at $494,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,691 shares during the period. 85.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verona Pharma news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 240,000 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.90, for a total value of $1,176,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,671,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,090,252. The trade was a 8.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark W. Hahn sold 12,936 shares of Verona Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $64,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,276,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,380,000. This represents a 0.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 952,488 shares of company stock valued at $4,743,881 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VRNA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Capital upgraded Verona Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective 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 raised their price objective on Verona Pharma from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective (up from $44.00) on shares of Verona Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $57.14.

Verona Pharma Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of VRNA stock opened at $64.21 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 13.03 and a quick ratio of 12.88. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $65.50.

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.