Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VSTM. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Verastem Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of VSTM stock traded up $0.23 on Monday, reaching $6.88. 703,989 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,648. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.67. The stock has a market cap of $306.21 million, a PE ratio of -2.16 and a beta of 0.60. Verastem has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $13.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Equities research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,988 shares of company stock worth $53,608. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Verastem during the 4th quarter worth about $20,400,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 3,752,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,401,000 after buying an additional 19,250 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $13,778,000. BVF Inc. IL raised its position in Verastem by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,100,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after buying an additional 415,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,918,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

About Verastem

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.