Analysts Set Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target at $14.29

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.2857.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VSTM shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Mizuho set a $15.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verastem news, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $62,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,083 shares in the company, valued at $20,830. This represents a 75.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Kauffman sold 8,550 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $85,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,660. The trade was a 49.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,807 shares of company stock valued at $487,688 in the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Verastem by 236.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,561,000 after purchasing an additional 531,873 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 2,995.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 351,569 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,459,000 after buying an additional 340,212 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at about $550,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,864,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $6.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $446.06 million, a P/E ratio of -1.66 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.63 and its 200 day moving average is $8.09. Verastem has a one year low of $4.01 and a one year high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $11.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.76 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

About Verastem

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.