Verastem's (VSTM) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research has reaffirmed a buy rating for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM), setting a target price of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 95.50% from its current price.
• Verastem recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of ($0.39), exceeding the consensus estimate, but its revenue of $2.14 million fell short of expectations.
• The company's stock has faced recent insider selling, with CEO Dan Paterson selling 17,808 shares, representing a 3.86% decrease in his position.

BTIG Research reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

VSTM has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley raised shares of Verastem to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Verastem to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $13.29.

Verastem Trading Up 4.0%

VSTM stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.72. 1,766,860 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,552,180. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.60. Verastem has a 1 year low of $2.54 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $598.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.93.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.01 million. On average, research analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total value of $91,355.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,276,894.07. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,488 shares of company stock valued at $127,149. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,593 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 9,254 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 339,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 52,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company's stock.

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.