Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 219.49% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on VSTM. B. Riley upped their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.89.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of Verastem stock traded down $0.59 during trading on Thursday, reaching $4.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 453,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,146. Verastem has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $13.52. The firm has a market cap of $241.73 million, a PE ratio of -1.48 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.93. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Equities analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,954 shares of company stock worth $53,457. 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 the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Verastem by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter valued at $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 55.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at $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.