Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Receives $13.63 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.88.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VSTM. B. Riley boosted their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’s 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,960 shares of company stock worth $53,498. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Verastem in the fourth quarter worth $20,400,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 3,752,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,401,000 after purchasing an additional 19,250 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,778,000. BVF Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,100,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after purchasing an additional 415,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter valued at about $3,918,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $6.40 on Thursday. Verastem has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $13.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.10 and a 200-day moving average of $4.72. The company has a market capitalization of $284.84 million, a P/E ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23.

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

Verastem Company Profile

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.