Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.
Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on VSTM. Mizuho boosted their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Verastem from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.83.
View Our Latest Research Report on Verastem
Verastem Stock Performance
NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $8.41 on Friday. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $3.43 and a fifty-two week high of $10.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $761.61 million, a PE ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 0.45.
Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.47) by ($0.27). Verastem had a negative net margin of 178.38% and a negative return on equity of 284.03%. The company had revenue of $24.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.57 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Verastem will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $352,968.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 652,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,221,696. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 48,041 shares of company stock valued at $386,390 in the last quarter. 1.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Verastem
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VSTM. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Verastem by 92.2% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 56,851 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 27,273 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the third quarter worth about $122,000. Aries Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Verastem by 6.5% during the third quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 32,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the third quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the second quarter valued at about $6,876,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Key Stories Impacting Verastem
Here are the key news stories impacting Verastem this week:
- Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright raised its price target from $18 to $20 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in Verastem’s prospects. HC Wainwright rating
- Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lowered its target from $19 to $18 but kept its Outperform rating. The reduced target is a modest caution, while the rating remains supportive. RBC rating
- Neutral Sentiment: CEO Dan Paterson sold 1,299 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, a sale equal to about 0.2% of his holdings; he still owned more than 651,000 shares afterward. SEC filing
- Neutral Sentiment: Verastem posted an updated corporate presentation on its oncology programs, but the available report did not specify material new developments. Presentation update
- Negative Sentiment: Verastem reported a Q3 loss of $0.74 per share, wider than the roughly $0.47 consensus loss, while revenue of $24.0 million missed estimates of about $26.6 million. The loss narrowed from $1.35 per share a year earlier, but the quarterly misses were the clearest near-term pressure on the stock. Q3 results
About Verastem
Verastem, operating as Verastem Oncology, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancer. The company’s research is centered on tumors driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway, which can promote cancer-cell growth and resistance to treatment.
Verastem’s leading product candidates include avutometinib, an oral RAF/MEK clamp designed to inhibit signaling within the RAS/MAPK pathway, and defactinib, an oral focal adhesion kinase inhibitor.
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