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

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.8333.

VSTM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 price target on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total transaction of $87,240.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,391.56. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,262 shares of company stock valued at $111,897. 1.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. RTW Investments LP lifted its position in Verastem by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,576,306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,769,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,000 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 270.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,925,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,302,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866,350 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,298,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,720,000 after acquiring an additional 55,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Verastem by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,219,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,853,000 after acquiring an additional 990,655 shares during the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM stock opened at $7.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $653.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.44. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $3.43 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.08. Verastem had a negative return on equity of 467.49% and a negative net margin of 231.59%.The company had revenue of $40.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.88 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

About Verastem

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.