Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) Trading 26.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA)’s share price shot up 26.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $0.54 and last traded at $0.53. 786,193 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 38% from the average session volume of 569,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verrica Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 26.2 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $0.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $0.92. The firm has a market cap of $48.65 million, a P/E ratio of -0.29 and a beta of 1.68.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.01. Verrica Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 625.06% and a negative return on equity of 591.84%. The firm had revenue of $0.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -1.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $89,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 512,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 61,041 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 106.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 36,028 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $335,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 404.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 25,130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.45% of the company’s stock.

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.