Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.38.

Verastem Price Performance

NASDAQ VSTM traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.69. 131,925 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,659,887. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.63. The company has a market cap of $253.24 million, a PE ratio of -1.78 and a beta of 0.24. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $14.22. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.11. Research analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,321 shares of company stock valued at $52,217. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter worth about $41,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Verastem during the third quarter worth $43,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Verastem by 55.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verastem by 104.6% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 10,457 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Verastem by 4,172.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 28,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is currently 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.