Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on VSTM. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on Verastem from $21.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Verastem from $18.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.57.

Verastem Stock Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:VSTM traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $3.96. The stock had a trading volume of 602,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 594,033. The company has a market cap of $176.26 million, a PE ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 0.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.96. Verastem has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $14.22. 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 (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. Analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Verastem by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,160,931 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,699,000 after purchasing an additional 10,678 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 4,172.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 28,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 28,119 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,192,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.