Verastem's (VSTM) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright reiterated a Buy rating on Verastem with an $18.00 price target, implying roughly a 237% upside from the prior close.
• Verastem shares traded down to $5.34 (-4.5%), with a market cap of about $468.8M; the company reported Q1 EPS of ($0.50) (missed by $0.01) and revenue of $17.54M (slightly above expectations).
• Insiders have sold shares recently (16,330 shares in the last 90 days) and own 2.10% of the stock, while institutional investors hold a dominant 88.37% stake after several funds materially increased positions.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. HC Wainwright's target price indicates a potential upside of 237.27% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on VSTM. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Verastem in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of Verastem in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $16.60.

Verastem Trading Down 4.5%

Verastem stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5.34. The stock had a trading volume of 639,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,926,447. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $468.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 0.43. Verastem has a one year low of $4.01 and a one year high of $11.24. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $5.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.54.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.85 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 10,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $73,898.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 400,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,864,744.64. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 5,039 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total value of $36,079.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,719 shares of the company's stock, valued at $749,788.04. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 16,330 shares of company stock valued at $116,467 in the last ninety days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RTW Investments LP grew its stake in Verastem by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,576,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $50,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,000 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its stake in Verastem by 270.7% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,925,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $30,302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,350 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC grew its stake in Verastem by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $27,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Verastem by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $30,720,000 after purchasing an additional 55,394 shares during the period. Finally, BVF Inc. IL grew its stake in Verastem by 62.1% during the second quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 3,404,425 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $14,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,957 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company's stock.

Verastem Company Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.

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