Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Short Interest Update

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, a decrease of 44.5% from the May 31st total of 2,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 685,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 6.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VSTM shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.50 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Verastem from $32.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Alliance Global Partners cut their price target on Verastem from $34.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTM. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Verastem by 116.7% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,569,000 after purchasing an additional 700,000 shares during the last quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Verastem in the third quarter worth approximately $1,653,000. Citigroup Inc. bought a new position in Verastem during the third quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,160,931 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,699,000 after acquiring an additional 10,678 shares during the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM opened at $2.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.46 million, a P/E ratio of -0.66 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 4.40, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.65. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.80 and a twelve month high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.10). As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -4.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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.