Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

VSTM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho set a $13.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price target on shares of Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Verastem currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.83.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $7.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.39. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $3.43 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The firm has a market cap of $650.22 million, a P/E ratio of -2.70 and a beta of 0.26.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative return on equity of 467.49% and a negative net margin of 231.59%. Sell-side analysts predict that Verastem will post -1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total value of $87,240.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 591,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,391.56. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,262 shares of company stock valued at $111,897 in the last ninety days. 1.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Verastem by 182.9% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,578 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 110.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 4,496 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter worth $49,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter worth $93,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the second quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

About Verastem

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.