Guggenheim Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on VSTM. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. BTIG Research increased their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.38.

Verastem Trading Up 5.9 %

Shares of VSTM opened at $5.92 on Friday. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $14.22. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.50 million, a P/E ratio of -1.86 and a beta of 0.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 10,321 shares of company stock worth $52,217 over the last 90 days. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the 2nd quarter worth about $203,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Verastem by 4,172.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the second quarter worth $1,192,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 104.6% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 10,457 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.