Oppenheimer Keeps Their Buy Rating on Verastem (VSTM)


Oppenheimer analyst Leah R. Cann maintained a Buy rating on Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM) today and set a price target of $16. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $6.80.

Cann wrote:

“Having the DUO data published in the prestigious journal Blood should increase awareness of this recently approved drug, duvelisib (Copiktra) for third-line CLL and FL, and aid in the launch of the drug. The timing of the FDA approval, in September 2018, was in line with our expectations. While we have not included any sales of Copiktra (duvelisib) until Q1 2019, it is likely the drug will contribute modestly to revenue in 2018, due to Verastem Oncology’s readiness to detail and distribute the drug. We are not adjusting our outlook until the drug is launched and we have a better sense of early adoption patterns, but believe this publication could be impactful to the launch.”

According to TipRanks.com, Cann is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 14.9% and a 48.7% success rate. Cann covers the Healthcare sector, focusing on stocks such as Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc, Miragen Therapeutics Inc, and CytomX Therapeutics Inc.

Verastem has an analyst consensus of Strong Buy, with a price target consensus of $15, a 120.6% upside from current levels. In a report issued on September 26, H.C. Wainwright also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $15 price target.

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Based on Verastem’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending June 30, the company reported a quarterly revenue of $10 million and GAAP net loss of $18.37 million. In comparison, last year the company had a GAAP net loss of $23.13 million.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 13 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of VSTM in relation to earlier this year.

TipRanks has tracked 36,000 company insiders and found that a few of them are better than others when it comes to timing their transactions. See which 3 stocks are most likely to make moves following their insider activities.

Verastem, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and commercialization of drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells. Its product candidates include duvelisib, which targets the Phosphoinositide 3-kinase signaling pathway; and defactinib, a targeted inhibitor of the Focal Adhesion Kinase signaling pathway. It evaluates these compounds in both preclinical and clinical studies as potential therapies for certain cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, mesothelioma, and pancreatic cancer. The company was founded by Richard H. Aldrich, Michelle Dipp, Piyush Gupta, Satish Jindal, Eric S. Lander, Robert F. Weinberg and Christoph H. Westphal on August 4, 2010 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA.

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