Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $32.66 Million Stock Position in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Verona Pharma plc (NASDAQ:VRNA) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,031,994 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 228,633 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Verona Pharma were worth $32,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Verona Pharma by 0.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,593,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,645,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Verona Pharma by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 1,377,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,390,000 after buying an additional 527,781 shares in the last quarter. First Turn Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verona Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,981,000. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Verona Pharma by 35.6% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,139,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,331,000 after acquiring an additional 299,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verona Pharma by 4.3% during the first quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 987,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,893,000 after acquiring an additional 41,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VRNA. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Verona Pharma from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Verona Pharma from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Verona Pharma from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Insider Transactions at Verona Pharma

In related news, insider Kathleen A. Rickard sold 36,248 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.96, for a total transaction of $71,046.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,621,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,138,241.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verona Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNA traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $22.31. 134,736 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 852,297. Verona Pharma plc has a twelve month low of $11.39 and a twelve month high of $23.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.43 and a 200-day moving average of $16.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.25 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 18.40, a quick ratio of 18.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.08). On average, research analysts predict that Verona Pharma plc will post -1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.