B. Riley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at B. Riley from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. B. Riley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 48.03% from the company’s previous close.

VSTM has been the topic of several other research reports. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho raised their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.63.

Verastem Price Performance

Verastem stock opened at $6.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $270.60 million, a P/E ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 0.24. Verastem has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $14.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. As a group, analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction 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 owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,321 shares of company stock valued at $52,217. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 37,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 10,352 shares during the period. Aries Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Verastem by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Verastem by 152.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 22,071 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Verastem by 55.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 546.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 47,094 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is 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.