Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Shares Down 4.8% – Here’s Why

by · The Cerbat Gem

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $9.53 and last traded at $9.53. 580,218 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 1,967,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VSTM. Mizuho set a $15.00 target price on Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Verastem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Verastem has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.29.

Read Our Latest Report on Verastem

Verastem Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $641.76 million, a P/E ratio of -2.38 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.77.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $11.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.76 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $62,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,830. This trade represents a 75.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dan Paterson sold 3,299 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $32,132.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 438,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,087.32. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 45,772 shares of company stock worth $454,305 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VSTM. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Verastem by 236.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,561,000 after acquiring an additional 531,873 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem in the second quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the first quarter worth approximately $305,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verastem during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $550,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Verastem in the 1st quarter valued at $300,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Verastem

(Get Free Report)

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.

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