Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Verastem in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley increased their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.89.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of VSTM opened at $5.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The firm has a market cap of $295.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.80 and a beta of 0.57. Verastem has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $13.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.95 and a 200-day moving average of $5.06.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.57). As a group, analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 67.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after buying an additional 359,060 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 37,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 10,352 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 546.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 47,094 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Verastem during the third quarter worth approximately $112,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 55.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. 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.