280,000 Shares in Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) Purchased by Simplify Asset Management Inc.

Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 280,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,041,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.66% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRCA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 4,393 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,268,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,511,000 after buying an additional 7,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Financial Inc bought a new position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRCA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verrica Pharmaceuticals news, insider Joe Bonaccorso sold 25,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $179,754.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 106,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,932.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Verrica Pharmaceuticals news, insider Joe Bonaccorso sold 25,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $179,754.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 106,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,932.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ted White sold 32,469 shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $229,231.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 250,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,765,854.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRCA opened at $1.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $82.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.21. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.77 and a fifty-two week high of $11.41.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 million. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 625.06% and a negative return on equity of 591.84%. On average, analysts expect that Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc, a clinical-stage dermatology therapeutics company, develops medications for the treatment of skin diseases in the United States. Its product pipeline comprises YCANTH (VP-102), which is in phase III clinical trial for the treatment of common warts; and has completed phase II clinical trial for the treatment of external genital warts.