Guggenheim Reiterates Buy Rating for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verastem currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.38.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM opened at $5.92 on Friday. Verastem has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $14.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.95 and a 200 day moving average of $3.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. The firm has a market cap of $263.50 million, a PE ratio of -1.86 and a beta of 0.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. As a group, research analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was 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 $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,321 shares of company stock worth $52,217. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Verastem by 152.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 22,071 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Verastem by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 546.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 47,094 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verastem by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 359,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the third quarter valued at approximately $112,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.