Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA)

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 61,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,000. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.14% of Verrica Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VRCA. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. HC Wainwright cut Verrica Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Brookline Capital Management restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $11.00 to $2.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.50.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRCA opened at $0.70 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.92 million, a PE ratio of -0.38 and a beta of 1.40. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $0.67 and a fifty-two week high of $11.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by ($0.12). Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 591.84% and a negative net margin of 625.06%. The company had revenue of ($1.78) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals 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.