Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock Price Up 8.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) rose 8.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $5.72 and last traded at $5.8160. Approximately 864,905 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 2,253,258 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on VSTM. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.40.

Verastem Stock Up 8.5%

The company has a market cap of $511.84 million, a PE ratio of -2.18 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.36 and its 200 day moving average is $5.56. The company has a current ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total value of $87,240.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,391.56. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its holdings in Verastem by 270.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,925,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,302,000 after purchasing an additional 2,866,350 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter worth $10,600,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth $15,440,000. SymBiosis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $15,440,000. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 3,536,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,298,000 after buying an additional 1,440,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Company Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.