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

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price target lifted by analysts at HC Wainwright from $7.00 to $10.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 50.38% from the company’s current price.

VSTM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. B. Riley increased their price target 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. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.75.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM stock opened at $6.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.08 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 has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $13.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.64.

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). Equities research analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,988 shares of company stock valued at $53,608. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Verastem by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Verastem by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 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.