Analysts Set Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) PT at $13.63

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.88.

VSTM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.88 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.67. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.21 million, a PE ratio of -2.16 and a beta of 0.60. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $13.52.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Equities research analysts expect 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,960 shares of company stock valued at $53,498. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Verastem by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Verastem by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management increased its stake in Verastem by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,737 shares in the last quarter. 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.