Propel Bio Management LLC Has $500,000 Stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA)

Propel Bio Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VRCA) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 344,937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80,000 shares during the quarter. Verrica Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 0.3% of Propel Bio Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Propel Bio Management LLC’s holdings in Verrica Pharmaceuticals were worth $500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 4,393 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 20.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 4,514 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Verrica Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,268,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,511,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares during the period. Finally, Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,000. 42.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VRCA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HC Wainwright lowered Verrica Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Brookline Capital Management reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Verrica Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verrica Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.60.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

VRCA stock opened at $0.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.58, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $45.19 million, a PE ratio of -0.54 and a beta of 1.45. Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a one year low of $0.70 and a one year high of $11.41.

Verrica Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRCA) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.49) 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 firm had revenue of ($1.78) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 million. On average, analysts predict that Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -1.42 EPS for the current fiscal 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.