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

BTIG Research restated their buy rating on shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

VSTM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim set a $12.00 target price on Verastem and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 target price on shares of Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Verastem from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. 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

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $8.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $7.33 and a 200-day moving average of $5.81. The company has a market cap of $748.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.11 and a beta of 0.39. 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 has a 52 week low of $3.43 and a 52 week high of $10.82.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its earnings results 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. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. The company had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.88 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $352,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,712 shares in the company, valued at $5,221,696. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 48,044 shares of company stock valued at $381,484 over the last 90 days. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTM. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the first quarter valued at about $210,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the 1st quarter worth approximately $377,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at $394,000. Finally, Knott David M Jr bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the first quarter worth $551,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Company Profile

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.