Verastem, Inc. $VSTM Shares Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) by 47.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 397,755 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 127,235 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Verastem were worth $1,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VSTM. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in Verastem during the second quarter valued at about $90,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 7,352 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 153.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 37,184 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 22,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,079 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 14,941 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Verastem news, Director Michael Kauffman sold 8,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $85,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,660. This represents a 49.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $62,500.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,772 shares of company stock worth $308,945. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VSTM. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 price target on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. B. Riley upgraded Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Mizuho set a $15.00 target price on Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.29.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of VSTM opened at $10.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $8.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.55. Verastem, Inc. has a 52 week low of $3.45 and a 52 week high of $11.24. The company has a market capitalization of $684.50 million, a PE ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.58.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $11.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.76 million. Research analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Verastem 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.