Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Verrica Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. HC Wainwright began coverage on Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.50.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VRCA opened at $5.35 on Friday. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $3.28 and a fifty-two week high of $9.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.91 million, a P/E ratio of -5.19 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.20.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.59) by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.51 million. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 47.97% and a negative return on equity of 1,077.78%. On average, analysts predict that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 22.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 32,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 5,960 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Beck Mack & Oliver LLC bought a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,000. Institutional investors own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of topical therapies for dermatological conditions. Its lead investigational product, VP-102, is a standardized formulation of cantharidin in a pre-measured applicator designed to treat molluscum contagiosum and common warts. Verrica’s approach emphasizes consistency of dosing and patient convenience, aiming to improve upon off?label use of existing treatments.

Beyond VP-102, Verrica is advancing VP-103, a next?generation topical candidate intended to optimize tolerability while maintaining efficacy against viral skin lesions.