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

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.79.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $17.50 price target on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th.

Verastem Price Performance

Verastem stock opened at $9.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 5.45 and a quick ratio of 5.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.64. Verastem has a 12 month low of $4.32 and a 12 month high of $15.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.39 million, a PE ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $75,000 after buying an additional 9,150 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 1st quarter worth about $131,000. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at about $245,000. Finally, Sectoral Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,653,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

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.