Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Jumps 8% – Should You Buy?

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)’s stock price rose 8% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $9.89 and last traded at $9.9440. 3,140,326 shares were traded 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VSTM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.67.

Verastem Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $909.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.77 and a beta of 0.39.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $40.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $352,968.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,712 shares in the company, valued at $5,221,696. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,044 shares of company stock valued at $381,484. Corporate insiders own 1.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter worth about $10,600,000. Opaleye Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at about $6,876,000. Exome Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 234,957 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Verastem by 31.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 416,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 100,123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Company Profile

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.