Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley raised shares of Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Verastem to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.29.

Verastem Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $9.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $598.22 million, a PE ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $7.25 and a 200 day moving average of $6.61. Verastem has a 1 year low of $2.54 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.44.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 million. Research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total transaction of $91,355.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 443,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,276,894.07. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,275 shares of company stock worth $120,296. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Verastem by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 339,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 52,657 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Verastem by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at about $387,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.