Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target Raised to $14.00

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price objective lifted by Guggenheim from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on VSTM. Mizuho raised their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. B. Riley upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.88.

Verastem Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of VSTM opened at $6.40 on Monday. Verastem has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $13.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $6.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,960 shares of company stock valued at $53,498. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,400,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verastem by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 3,752,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,401,000 after purchasing an additional 19,250 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at $13,778,000. BVF Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,100,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after buying an additional 415,249 shares during the period. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter worth $3,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.