Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Shares Climb 8% – Should You Buy?

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) was up 8% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $9.89 and last traded at $9.9440. Approximately 3,140,326 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 2,540,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Verastem in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Verastem and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Verastem Stock Up 9.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $911.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $7.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $40.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative return on equity of 467.49% and a negative net margin of 231.59%. On average, equities analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $352,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,221,696. This trade represents a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 48,044 shares of company stock worth $381,484 over the last quarter. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the first quarter worth about $10,600,000. Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verastem during the second quarter worth approximately $6,876,000. Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 58.5% during the first quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 636,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,375,000 after purchasing an additional 234,957 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Verastem by 157.2% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 347,872 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Verastem by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 416,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after buying an additional 100,123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

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.