Verastem’s (VSTM) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 143.08% from the company’s current price.

VSTM has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Mizuho set a $13.00 target price on shares of Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Guggenheim set a $12.00 target price on Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.83.

Verastem Stock Performance

VSTM traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.41. The stock had a trading volume of 557,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,231,484. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.56. Verastem has a 1 year low of $3.43 and a 1 year high of $10.82. The stock has a market cap of $670.60 million, a PE ratio of -2.78 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative return on equity of 467.49% and a negative net margin of 231.59%. Equities analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total transaction of $87,240.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 591,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,391.56. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,262 shares of company stock worth $111,897 over the last three months. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Verastem by 182.9% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,578 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,960 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verastem during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Verastem by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,188 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Verastem by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 4,496 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Verastem

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.