Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Brookline Capital Management

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Brookline Capital Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $17.00 price target on the stock. Brookline Capital Management’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 111.18% from the company’s current price.

VRCA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Loop Capital set a $17.00 price target on Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verrica Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VRCA opened at $8.05 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.67. Verrica Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $3.28 and a one year high of $9.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.39 million, a PE ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.49.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.14) by $1.27. The business had revenue of $14.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.34 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Verrica Pharmaceuticals will post -1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Verrica Pharmaceuticals news, COO David Zawitz purchased 10,000 shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.24 per share, for a total transaction of $42,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,040. The trade was a 90.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jayson Rieger acquired 94,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.24 per share, with a total value of $399,878.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 182,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $774,194.32. The trade was a 106.83% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have bought 4,236,346 shares of company stock worth $17,962,107. 54.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verrica Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRCA. Armistice Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 8,881,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,708,000 after buying an additional 313,944 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC increased its stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 750,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 358,228 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,210,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 347.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 143,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 111,678 shares during the period. 42.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.