Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Given New $14.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its target price cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $16.00 to $14.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

VSTM has been the topic of several other research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley increased their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research increased their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.38.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $6.65 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $6.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.61. The company has a market cap of $295.97 million, a P/E ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. Verastem has a fifty-two week low of $2.10 and a fifty-two week high of $13.52.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Sell-side analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 9,988 shares of company stock worth $53,608 in the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Walleye Capital LLC raised its stake in Verastem by 493.7% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 179,725 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Verastem by 67.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,663,000 after buying an additional 359,060 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Verastem by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 37,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 10,352 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Verastem by 546.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Verastem in the third quarter valued at about $112,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.