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

BTIG Research reiterated their buy rating on shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $20.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on VSTM. Zacks Research upgraded Verastem to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verastem presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $13.29.

Verastem Stock Performance

Verastem stock opened at $9.92 on Tuesday. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.46 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.44. The company has a market capitalization of $610.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.02 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.51.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total transaction of $91,355.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 443,839 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,894.07. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 24,488 shares of company stock valued at $127,149 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSTM. BVF Inc. IL grew its position in shares of Verastem by 62.1% during the 2nd quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 3,404,425 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,128,000 after buying an additional 1,303,957 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 28.5% during the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after purchasing an additional 656,194 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,864,000. Octagon Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,372,000. Finally, Foresite Capital Management VI LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,298,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Verastem

Verastem, Inc, a development-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing drugs for the treatment of cancer in the United States. Its product candidates are Avutometinib, an orally available small molecule RAF/MEK clamp that inhibits the ras sarcoma RAF/MEK, ERK mitogen activated pathway kinase pathway which is involved in cell proliferation, migration, transformation, and survival of tumor cells; and Defactinib, an oral small molecule inhibitor of FAK and proline-rich tyrosine kinase for various solid tumors.