Brokerages Set Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target at $16.60

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.60.

Several equities analysts recently commented on VSTM shares. Mizuho set a $18.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price (down from $19.00) on shares of Verastem in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, April 10th.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of VSTM opened at $5.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.77 and a 200 day moving average of $7.31. The company has a market cap of $519.13 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.43. Verastem has a 52-week low of $4.01 and a 52-week high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.85 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Verastem will post -1.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 78.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 27,477 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Verastem by 236.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,561,000 after buying an additional 531,873 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Verastem by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,259 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,978,000 after buying an additional 238,995 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Verastem by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 59,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 9,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Verastem by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 14,879 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verastem Company Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.