Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on VSTM. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Verastem Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. Verastem has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $13.52. The stock has a market cap of $284.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.72.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Equities analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was 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 owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,960 shares of company stock valued at $53,498. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Verastem by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Voya Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth approximately $61,000. Finally, FMR LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the third quarter worth $41,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.