Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

VSTM has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, February 19th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Verastem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Verastem Stock Up 3.9%

VSTM opened at $6.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $426.72 million, a P/E ratio of -2.00 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.09. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.18. Verastem has a twelve month low of $4.01 and a twelve month high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.85 million. Research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 10,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $73,898.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 400,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,864,744.64. The trade was a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 5,039 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $36,079.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,719 shares in the company, valued at $749,788.04. This trade represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,678 shares of company stock worth $148,825. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verastem by 78.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 27,477 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Verastem by 236.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,561,000 after buying an additional 531,873 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem during the second quarter worth about $106,000. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verastem during the second quarter valued at about $90,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verastem by 24.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,259 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,978,000 after acquiring an additional 238,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Company Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.