Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.84 EPS

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.84), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $11.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.76 million.

Verastem Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $8.16 on Thursday. Verastem has a 12-month low of $3.45 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The company has a market capitalization of $502.17 million, a P/E ratio of -2.02 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.36. The company has a quick ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 8,333 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total value of $75,496.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,496.98. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 9,673 shares of company stock valued at $88,813 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 78.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 27,477 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Verastem by 236.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,561,000 after acquiring an additional 531,873 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verastem by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,259 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,978,000 after acquiring an additional 238,995 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Verastem by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 59,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 9,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Verastem by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 14,879 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VSTM. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 target price on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. B. Riley raised Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $15.00 target price on Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.29.

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.