Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on shares of Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 price target on shares of Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.83.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $8.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $742.59 million, a P/E ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.25. Verastem has a one year low of $3.43 and a one year high of $11.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.51.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,391.56. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,262 shares of company stock worth $111,897. Corporate insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTM. Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 270.7% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,925,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,302,000 after buying an additional 2,866,350 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,600,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $15,440,000. SymBiosis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $15,440,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Verastem by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,298,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Company Profile

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.