Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on VSTM. Alliance Global Partners cut their price objective on shares of Verastem from $34.00 to $20.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Verastem from $32.00 to $16.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and issued a $17.50 price target on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $24.50.

Verastem Stock Up 2.8 %

VSTM opened at $2.98 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.15 and a 200 day moving average of $9.64. The company has a market cap of $75.47 million, a PE ratio of -0.68 and a beta of 0.27. Verastem has a 12 month low of $2.80 and a 12 month high of $14.22. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.10). On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verastem will post -4.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verastem by 114,375.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 9,150 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at $131,000. Citigroup Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at $245,000. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,653,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Verastem by 116.7% during the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,300,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,569,000 after buying an additional 700,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.