Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

VSTM has been the topic of several other research reports. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Verastem from $21.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Verastem in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Verastem from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.57.

Verastem Stock Performance

Verastem stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $3.60. 767,266 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 570,341. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.36. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $14.22. The stock has a market cap of $144.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.08 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 3.28.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by $0.75. The business had revenue of $10.00 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,160,931 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,699,000 after purchasing an additional 10,678 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth $1,192,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth $203,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 4,172.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 28,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth $82,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.