Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Price Expected to Rise, HC Wainwright Analyst Says

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price objective boosted by HC Wainwright from $7.00 to $10.00 in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VSTM. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, January 24th. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verastem presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.88.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $6.40 on Monday. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $13.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.72. The company has a market capitalization of $284.84 million, a P/E ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly 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). Analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 9,960 shares of company stock valued at $53,498 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 46.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 32,791 shares during the period. FMR LLC acquired a new position in Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,918,000. Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 493.7% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 179,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 62.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is 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.