Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.79.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VSTM. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.50 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th.

Verastem Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of VSTM opened at $10.90 on Monday. Verastem has a 12 month low of $4.68 and a 12 month high of $15.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.27 and its 200-day moving average is $9.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $275.88 million, a PE ratio of -2.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 5.45, a quick ratio of 5.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by ($0.20). Equities research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -4.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 27.7% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 22,758 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 4,939 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 114,375.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 9,150 shares during the period. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the first quarter worth $131,000. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter worth $245,000. Finally, Sectoral Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter worth $1,653,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Company 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.