Stifel Financial Corp Buys 11,642 Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) by 62.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,642 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Verastem were worth $91,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. FMR LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verastem by 104.6% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 10,457 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Verastem by 4,172.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 28,793 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 28,119 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VSTM shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.00.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $3.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $163.34 million, a P/E ratio of -1.15 and a beta of 0.22. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.30. Verastem, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2.10 and a 12 month high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.11. As a group, analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.16 EPS for the current year.

Verastem Profile

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.