Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Short Interest Down 17.9% in March

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 634,500 shares, a decline of 17.9% from the March 15th total of 773,100 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 148,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $11.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $285.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 5.45 and a quick ratio of 5.45. Verastem has a 12 month low of $4.26 and a 12 month high of $15.18.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by ($0.20). As a group, equities analysts forecast that Verastem will post -4.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,661 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 12,117 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Verastem by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 17,570 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 5,109 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Verastem by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 39,423 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 114,375.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 9,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,150,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,352,000 after buying an additional 150,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VSTM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.50 target price on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.79.

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.