Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VSTM. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim set a $12.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.83.

View Our Latest Analysis on Verastem

Verastem Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of VSTM stock opened at $8.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Verastem has a 1 year low of $3.43 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $742.59 million, a P/E ratio of -3.08 and a beta of 0.32.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. On average, equities analysts predict that Verastem will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total value of $87,240.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,391.56. The trade was a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 26,262 shares of company stock worth $111,897 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Verastem during the second quarter worth approximately $706,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verastem by 157.2% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 347,872 shares during the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Verastem by 715.1% in the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 123,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 108,260 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 31.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 416,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 100,123 shares during the period. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the first quarter worth approximately $377,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

About Verastem

(Get Free Report)

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.

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