BTIG Research Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at BTIG Research in a report released on Monday, October 5th, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $18.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 122.36% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on VSTM. Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on shares of Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Verastem in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised Verastem from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verastem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.83.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM stock traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $8.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,382,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,260,504. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.22. Verastem has a 1 year low of $3.43 and a 1 year high of $10.82. The company has a market capitalization of $733.08 million, a P/E ratio of -3.04 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.85.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $40.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.88 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $352,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 652,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 48,044 shares of company stock valued at $381,484. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at $117,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at $210,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at $377,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at $394,000. Finally, Knott David M Jr bought a new stake in Verastem in the 1st quarter worth $551,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.