Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Price

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BTIG Research increased their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim started coverage on Verastem in a report on Monday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verastem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.38.

Verastem Stock Performance

Verastem stock opened at $6.54 on Tuesday. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $14.22. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The company has a market capitalization of $291.08 million, a P/E ratio of -2.05 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4.55 and its 200 day moving average is $3.43.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. On average, equities research analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,918,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Verastem by 67.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after acquiring an additional 359,060 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Verastem by 18.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 424,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 65,265 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,192,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC raised its holdings in Verastem by 493.7% during the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 179,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

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.