Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Rating Raised to Hold 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 released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on VSTM. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, September 11th. Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, September 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.83.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $7.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.02 and a 200 day moving average of $5.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $700.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 0.32. Verastem has a 52 week low of $3.43 and a 52 week high of $10.82.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. Verastem had a negative return on equity of 467.49% and a negative net margin of 231.59%.The company had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.88 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Verastem will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verastem in the 1st quarter worth approximately $10,600,000. Opaleye Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,876,000. Armistice Capital LLC grew its holdings in Verastem by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,298,000 after buying an additional 1,440,000 shares in the last quarter. NEXTBio Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,093,000. Finally, Foresite Capital Management VI LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC now owns 3,135,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,203,000 after buying an additional 520,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

About Verastem

Verastem Oncology is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancers driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway. The company’s research is aimed at addressing cancers with limited treatment options, including ovarian cancer and other solid tumors.

Verastem’s principal products include avutometinib, a RAF/MEK pathway inhibitor, and defactinib, a focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor. The company has studied these therapies both individually and in combination, with the goal of improving cancer-cell response and overcoming treatment resistance.