Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.2857.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VSTM. Zacks Research raised shares of Verastem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total transaction of $91,355.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,276,894.07. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total transaction of $90,592.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,055 shares in the company, valued at $927,267.15. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 94,308 shares of company stock worth $694,786. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $387,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Verastem by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,593 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 9,254 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Verastem by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 20,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of VSTM opened at $8.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 3.50 and a current ratio of 3.46. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.24 and a twelve month high of $9.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.12. The firm has a market cap of $505.86 million, a P/E ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.83.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.01 million. On average, analysts forecast 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.