Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Receives $13.63 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.38.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 9,988 shares of company stock worth $53,608 over the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter worth about $20,400,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at about $13,778,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,918,000. Rosalind Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Verastem in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,653,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,103,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23. The firm has a market cap of $295.97 million, a PE ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.63. Verastem has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $13.52.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). On average, equities analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

About Verastem

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.