Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target to $14.00

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $16.00 to $14.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on VSTM. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verastem presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.38.

Verastem Stock Performance

VSTM opened at $6.65 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $295.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 0.60. The company’s 50 day moving average is $6.01 and its 200 day moving average is $4.64. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $13.52.

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

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,988 shares of company stock valued at $53,608. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Verastem by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $61,000. Finally, FMR LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

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.