Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target Raised to $14.00 at Guggenheim

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Guggenheim from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on VSTM. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.88.

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Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $6.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.70 million, a P/E ratio of -1.94 and a beta of 0.60. Verastem has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $13.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.76.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Sell-side analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,960 shares of company stock worth $53,498. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Verastem by 55.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.