Verastem’s (VSTM) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at BTIG Research

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 123.46% from the stock’s previous close.

VSTM has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 target price on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price target on Verastem and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Verastem from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.83.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $8.06. The company had a trading volume of 863,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,234,362. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $3.43 and a fifty-two week high of $10.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.78. The firm has a market cap of $729.46 million, a P/E ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In related 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 directly owned 652,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,221,696. The trade was a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 48,044 shares of company stock worth $381,484 over the last quarter. 1.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,600,000. Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,876,000. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verastem by 68.7% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440,000 shares during the last quarter. NEXTBio Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,093,000. Finally, Foresite Capital Management VI LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $24,203,000 after purchasing an additional 520,000 shares during the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.