Analysts Set Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) PT at $13.83

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.8333.

A number of research firms have recently commented on VSTM. Mizuho set a $13.00 target price on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 target price on shares of Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total transaction of $87,240.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 26,262 shares of company stock worth $111,897 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 157.2% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 347,872 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter worth about $10,600,000. Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 58.5% during the 1st quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 636,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 234,957 shares during the period. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC grew its holdings in Verastem by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC now owns 3,135,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,203,000 after purchasing an additional 520,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEXTBio Capital Management LP bought a new position in Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,093,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $7.22 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $653.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 0.26. Verastem has a 12-month low of $3.43 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.44.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $40.08 million during 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Verastem will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.