Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Short Interest Up 31.0% in December

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,620,000 shares, an increase of 31.0% from the November 30th total of 2,000,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 983,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VSTM. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Verastem in a research note on Monday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.00.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,111,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 638,676. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.16 and a beta of 0.22. Verastem has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last announced its 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verastem will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,918,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the second quarter worth approximately $1,192,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Verastem by 67.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after purchasing an additional 359,060 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 179,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the 2nd quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.