Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Upgraded at Royal Bank Of Canada

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $12.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $16.00. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective points to a potential upside of 186.74% from the stock's previous close.

VSTM has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Verastem in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verastem from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.38.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $4.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 775,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,763. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.68 and a 200-day moving average of $5.99. The company has a market capitalization of $229.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 0.85. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $9.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.50 and a quick ratio of 3.50.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.24). As a group, research analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Verastem

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total transaction of $91,355.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 443,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,276,894.07. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total value of $90,592.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 114,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $927,267.15. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,796 shares of company stock worth $693,033. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Verastem by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Verastem by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,784 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,183 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Verastem by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Verastem by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737 shares in the last quarter. 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.