Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.2857.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Verastem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. B. Riley upgraded Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 2,995.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 351,569 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after buying an additional 340,212 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 224.2% in the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 674,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 466,491 shares during the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,490,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM opened at $9.82 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.36 and a 200-day moving average of $6.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $604.32 million, a P/E ratio of -2.99 and a beta of 0.92. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.54 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The company has a quick ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

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

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.