Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given “Buy” Rating at BTIG Research

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at BTIG Research in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $18.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 121.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VSTM. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Guggenheim set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Verastem presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.83.

Verastem Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM traded down $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $8.11. 3,051,472 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,256,440. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $734.44 million, a P/E ratio of -3.05 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.81. Verastem has a 1-year low of $3.43 and a 1-year high of $10.82.

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 firm had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. Equities analysts predict that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $352,968.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,712 shares in the company, valued at $5,221,696. The trade was a 6.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 48,044 shares of company stock valued at $381,484 in the last ninety days. 1.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,298,000 after buying an additional 1,440,000 shares during the period. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC raised its position in Verastem by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC now owns 3,135,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,203,000 after buying an additional 520,000 shares during the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,600,000. NEXTBio Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,093,000. Finally, Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verastem during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,876,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

About Verastem

Verastem Oncology (NASDAQ:VSTM) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancers driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway. The company’s research is aimed at addressing cancers with limited treatment options, including ovarian cancer and other solid tumors.

Verastem’s lead product, avutometinib, is a treatment targeting the RAF/MEK signaling pathway and is marketed in the United States under the brand name Avmapki for certain patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer.