Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Research Coverage Started at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $15.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research upped their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verastem has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.89.

Verastem Trading Up 2.7 %

VSTM opened at $4.64 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23. Verastem has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $13.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Insider Activity at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 9,954 shares of company stock worth $53,457 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 32.8% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 49,959 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 12,330 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,742,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 60,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently 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.