Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.2857.

VSTM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research lowered Verastem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In other Verastem news, Director Michael Kauffman sold 8,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $85,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,666 shares in the company, valued at $86,660. The trade was a 49.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $62,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,830. This trade represents a 75.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,447 shares of company stock valued at $377,711. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Verastem by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,720,000 after acquiring an additional 55,394 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 3,404,425 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303,957 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,262,000 after purchasing an additional 656,194 shares during the period. Vivo Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 2,644,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,524 shares during the period. Finally, Foresite Capital Management VI LLC increased its position in shares of Verastem by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC now owns 2,615,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,338,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of VSTM opened at $7.20 on Wednesday. Verastem has a 52-week low of $4.01 and a 52-week high of $11.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $8.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.10. The stock has a market cap of $480.79 million, a PE ratio of -1.79 and a beta of 0.44.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $11.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.76 million. Research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verastem Company Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.