Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Shares Up 9.4% – Should You Buy?

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)’s stock price was up 9.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.36 and last traded at $8.2570. Approximately 400,644 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,939,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.29.

Verastem Trading Up 16.6%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.42. The firm has a market cap of $587.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $11.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.76 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 3,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $32,132.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 438,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,274,087.32. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 8,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total value of $75,496.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,496.98. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,972 shares of company stock worth $120,945 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,720,000 after buying an additional 55,394 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL raised its holdings in Verastem by 62.1% in the second quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 3,404,425 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,128,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,957 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Verastem by 28.5% in the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after acquiring an additional 656,194 shares in the last quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC boosted its stake in Verastem by 104.9% during the 3rd quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC now owns 2,615,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the 2nd quarter worth $8,864,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verastem Company Profile

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.