Verastem’s (VSTM) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Jefferies Financial Group

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $15.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $19.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 202.72% from the company’s previous close.

VSTM has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.60.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $4.96. 377,844 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,912,251. Verastem has a 1 year low of $4.01 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.77. The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market cap of $435.20 million, a P/E ratio of -1.55 and a beta of 0.40.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $17.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.85 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 5,039 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $36,079.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 104,719 shares in the company, valued at approximately $749,788.04. This represents a 4.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan Paterson sold 10,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 400,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,864,744.64. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 16,330 shares of company stock worth $116,467 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 78.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 27,477 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 236.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,561,000 after purchasing an additional 531,873 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verastem by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,259 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,978,000 after purchasing an additional 238,995 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Verastem by 35.9% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 7,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Verastem by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 59,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 9,594 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.