Guggenheim Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its target price lifted by Guggenheim from $13.00 to $14.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on VSTM. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.88.

Verastem Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.88 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $306.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.16 and a beta of 0.60. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $13.52.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). On average, research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,960 shares of company stock valued at $53,498. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verastem by 46.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 32,791 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verastem in the third quarter worth about $3,918,000. Walleye Capital LLC increased its stake in Verastem by 493.7% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 179,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Verastem by 62.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 11,642 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.