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

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.63.

VSTM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $5.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $241.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. Verastem has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $13.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.50 and its 200 day moving average is $4.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,367 shares of company stock valued at $53,990. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $20,400,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 3,752,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,401,000 after buying an additional 19,250 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,778,000. BVF Inc. IL grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 415,249 shares during the period. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,918,000. 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.