Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) Short Interest Update

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, a decrease of 34.2% from the November 30th total of 3,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 891,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VRCA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. HC Wainwright lowered Verrica Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Brookline Capital Management reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $2.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.50.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of VRCA traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $0.68. 1,036,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 503,555. The company has a market cap of $31.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.37 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.28. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $0.61 and a 12-month high of $11.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verrica Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VRCA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 4,393 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,514 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 404.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 25,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 106.5% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 36,028 shares during the period. 42.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Verrica Pharmaceuticals

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.