Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target Lowered to $18.00 at BTIG Research

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price objective cut by BTIG Research from $19.00 to $18.00 in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Mizuho set a $18.00 target price on Verastem in a report on Thursday, February 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of Verastem in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verastem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.40.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $4.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $429.54 million, a PE ratio of -1.81 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.14. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Verastem has a 52-week low of $4.01 and a 52-week high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.85 million. Verastem had a negative return on equity of 748.62% and a negative net margin of 391.17%. On average, equities analysts expect that Verastem will post -1.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased 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. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the first quarter worth about $10,600,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $15,440,000. SymBiosis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $15,440,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC increased 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. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.