Mizuho Lowers Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target to $8.00

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its target price decreased by analysts at Mizuho from $9.00 to $8.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective points to a potential upside of 72.41% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Verastem Trading Down 9.0 %

VSTM opened at $4.64 on Wednesday. Verastem has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $13.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.91. The firm has a market cap of $238.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 0.57. 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 Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.57). As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 9,954 shares of company stock worth $53,457 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Verastem by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

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.