Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.63.

A number of research firms have commented on VSTM. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, January 24th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 10,053 shares of company stock worth $53,890 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,742,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 60,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Verastem Trading Up 4.0 %

VSTM opened at $6.98 on Thursday. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month 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 fifty day moving average of $5.98 and a 200-day moving average of $4.57. The stock has a market cap of $310.66 million, a PE ratio of -2.19 and a beta of 0.60.

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.