Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given New $9.00 Price Target at B. Riley

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price target boosted by equities researchers at B. Riley from $7.00 to $9.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. B. Riley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 40.63% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on VSTM. StockNews.com cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.63.

Verastem Stock Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ:VSTM traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.40. The stock had a trading volume of 422,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,871. 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 has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $14.22. The company has a market capitalization of $284.86 million, a PE ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.73.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 10,321 shares of company stock valued at $52,217 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the third quarter worth about $3,918,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after buying an additional 359,060 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 424,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after buying an additional 65,265 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 493.7% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 179,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Verastem by 46.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 32,791 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.