Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Price Target Raised to $13.00 at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• The target price for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) was raised by Royal Bank of Canada to $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 94.84% from its previous close.
• Verastem's stock saw an increase of 18.7%, reaching $6.67 during mid-day trading, with a significant trading volume of 2,965,191 shares.
• Verastem reported earnings of ($0.39) EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, while the company’s revenue was below analysts' forecasts at $2.14 million.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Royal Bank Of Canada from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VSTM. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Verastem from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Verastem Stock Up 2.5%

Verastem stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,043,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,733,062. The company has a quick ratio of 3.50, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $517.86 million, a P/E ratio of -2.56 and a beta of 0.83. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.24 and a 12-month high of $9.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $5.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.07.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.01 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 58,677 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total transaction of $477,044.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 461,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,913.66. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total transaction of $90,592.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $927,267.15. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 94,308 shares of company stock valued at $694,786. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Verastem by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Verastem by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Verastem by 3.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,784 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 4,183 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Verastem by 31.2% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Verastem by 10.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 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.