Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) Receives $8.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.00.

VRCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Verrica Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 306.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 58,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 44,275 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 127.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 99,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 55,852 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 139,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 26,308 shares during the period. 42.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 7.6%

Shares of VRCA stock opened at $0.81 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $0.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.61. The stock has a market cap of $74.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.67 and a beta of 1.76. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $0.38 and a twelve month high of $8.98.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.53 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.46 EPS 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.