Analysts Set Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target at $13.63

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.88.

VSTM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value 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 represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 9,960 shares of company stock worth $53,498 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at $3,742,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Verastem by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 60,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 17,500 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $6.40 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.72. 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 has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $13.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.84 million, a P/E ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 0.60.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released 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, analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Verastem Company Profile

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.