Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys Shares of 45,525 Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 45,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perceptive Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 7,099,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $7,511,000 after purchasing an additional 7,609 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joe Bonaccorso sold 25,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $179,754.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,932.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joe Bonaccorso sold 25,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total transaction of $179,754.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,932.86. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ted White sold 32,469 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.06, for a total value of $229,231.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 250,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,765,854.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ VRCA opened at $1.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.04 and a twelve month high of $11.41. The company has a market cap of $57.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.71 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.46 and its 200 day moving average is $5.79.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 million. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 591.84% and a negative net margin of 625.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Brookline Capital Management reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verrica Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

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.