Wall Street Zen Downgrades Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) to Sell

Key Points

• Verastem's stock has been downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a bearish outlook from analysts.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock received mixed reactions from other analysts, with Royal Bank Of Canada setting a price target of $13.00 and BTIG Research maintaining a "buy" rating at a price target of $20.00.
• In the latest quarterly earnings, Verastem reported a loss of ($0.39) per share, exceeding analysts' expected loss of (0.64) per share, but revenue fell short of estimates at $2.14 million versus an expectation of $6.01 million.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on VSTM. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley raised Verastem to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Verastem to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verastem currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $13.29.

Verastem Stock Up 1.1%

VSTM traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $9.54. 1,299,668 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,418,451. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.54 and a twelve month high of $11.24. The company has a market cap of $587.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.91 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 3.46, a quick ratio of 3.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.70.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,533 shares of company stock valued at $132,863. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Verastem by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.