Verastem’s (VSTM) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price points to a potential upside of 67.06% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on VSTM. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Verastem in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Verastem currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Verastem Stock Down 5.6 %

VSTM stock opened at $4.19 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $186.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.30. 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 $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.11. Sell-side analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,918,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Verastem by 67.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after buying an additional 359,060 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 424,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 65,265 shares during the period. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,192,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 493.7% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 179,725 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.