HC Wainwright Issues Positive Forecast for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Price

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price target increased by investment analysts at HC Wainwright from $18.00 to $20.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 113.22% from the company’s previous close.

VSTM has been the subject of several other reports. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Verastem from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price target on Verastem and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Verastem Trading Down 4.8%

NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $9.38 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.36 and a 200 day moving average of $6.24. Verastem has a 52 week low of $3.43 and a 52 week high of $10.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $849.45 million, a P/E ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 0.45.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $24.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.57 million. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Verastem will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $352,968.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,221,696. The trade was a 6.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 48,041 shares of company stock valued at $386,390 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at about $122,000. Aries Wealth Management raised its stake in Verastem by 6.5% in the third quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 32,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the third quarter worth about $89,000. Opaleye Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verastem in the second quarter worth about $6,876,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Verastem in the second quarter worth about $706,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Verastem News

Here are the key news stories impacting Verastem this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Verastem’s third-quarter loss narrowed to $0.74 per share from $1.35 per share a year earlier, showing year-over-year improvement despite the earnings miss. Zacks report
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Dan Paterson sold 1,299 shares for about $12,470, a 0.20% reduction in his holdings. The sale was made under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, and he retained more than 651,000 shares. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted an updated presentation on its oncology programs; the report did not describe specific new developments that would materially alter the outlook. Presentation update
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter results fell short of forecasts: the loss was $0.74 per share versus an expected $0.47, while revenue of $24.0 million was below the roughly $26.6 million consensus. The earnings and revenue misses are the clearest potential pressure on VSTM. Quarterly results

About Verastem

Verastem, operating as Verastem Oncology, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancer. The company’s research is centered on tumors driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway, which can promote cancer-cell growth and resistance to treatment.

Verastem’s leading product candidates include avutometinib, an oral RAF/MEK clamp designed to inhibit signaling within the RAS/MAPK pathway, and defactinib, an oral focal adhesion kinase inhibitor.