B. Riley Upgrades Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• B. Riley has upgraded Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) to a strong-buy rating, indicating increased confidence in the company's future performance.
• Verastem's stock has seen a 0.9% decline and is currently priced at $8.90, with a market cap of $547.75 million and an average rating of "Buy" from analysts.
• The company reported earnings of ($0.39) EPS for the last quarter, which was better than analysts' expectations of ($0.64), although their revenue fell short of estimates.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at B. Riley to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on VSTM. Zacks Research raised Verastem to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.29.

Verastem Stock Down 0.9%

Verastem stock opened at $8.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. Verastem has a 1-year low of $2.34 and a 1-year high of $9.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.24. The company has a market cap of $547.75 million, a P/E ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 0.83.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 million. Research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total value of $91,355.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,276,894.07. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,488 shares of company stock valued at $127,149. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Voya Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company's stock.

About Verastem

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.

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