Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given New $10.00 Price Target at HC Wainwright

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at HC Wainwright from $7.00 to $10.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price points to a potential upside of 50.38% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. B. Riley lifted their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Verastem Stock Down 2.5 %

VSTM opened at $6.65 on Monday. Verastem has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $13.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.64. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The company has a market cap of $295.97 million, a PE ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 0.60.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 9,988 shares of company stock valued at $53,608 in the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Verastem by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 32,791 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem in the third quarter worth $41,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the third quarter valued at $3,918,000. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 493.7% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 179,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Verastem by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.