Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target to $14.00

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 109.74% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on VSTM. Mizuho increased their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.38.

Verastem Price Performance

Verastem stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.68. The company had a trading volume of 471,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,010. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $297.08 million, a PE ratio of -2.09 and a beta of 0.60. Verastem has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $13.52.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,988 shares of company stock worth $53,608. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Verastem by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Verastem by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 5,737 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.