Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Stock

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $13.00 to $16.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 171.19% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on VSTM. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on Verastem in a research report on Monday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.38.

Verastem Trading Down 9.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM opened at $5.90 on Tuesday. Verastem has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $14.22. The firm has a market cap of $262.59 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.44. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VSTM. FMR LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the third quarter valued at about $43,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Verastem by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Verastem by 104.6% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 10,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.