Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Monday.

VSTM has been the topic of several other reports. B. Riley upped their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Verastem Trading Down 5.3 %

Verastem stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $6.38. 226,785 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,957. Verastem has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $13.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $328.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.00 and a beta of 0.60. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $6.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23.

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Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.57). On average, analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 9,960 shares of company stock worth $53,498 in the last ninety days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth $20,400,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verastem by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 3,752,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $19,401,000 after buying an additional 19,250 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $13,778,000. BVF Inc. IL raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,100,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,859,000 after acquiring an additional 415,249 shares during the period. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,918,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verastem Company Profile

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.