B. Riley Issues Positive Forecast for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Price

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price target raised by B. Riley from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Verastem has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.63.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of VSTM opened at $6.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $5.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.75. Verastem has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,321 shares of company stock valued at $52,217. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verastem in the third quarter worth about $3,918,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 359,060 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 493.7% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 179,725 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 424,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 65,265 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Verastem by 546.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 47,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.