Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $18.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 132.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on VSTM. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price target on shares of Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Monday, September 28th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Verastem in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Nine 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.83.

Verastem Stock Performance

Verastem stock opened at $7.75 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $7.28 and a 200-day moving average of $5.79. Verastem has a 1 year low of $3.43 and a 1 year high of $10.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The company has a market capitalization of $701.86 million, a P/E ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 0.39.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.88 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 48,044 shares of company stock worth $381,484 over the last ninety days. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VSTM. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Verastem during the second quarter worth $706,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Verastem by 157.2% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 347,872 shares in the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem in the first quarter valued at $10,600,000. Opaleye Management Inc. bought a new stake in Verastem in the second quarter valued at $6,876,000. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 58.5% during the first quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 636,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 234,957 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.