Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Director Michael Kauffman Sells 8,550 Shares of Stock

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Director Michael Kauffman sold 8,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $85,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,660. This trade represents a 49.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Verastem Trading Up 4.2%

Shares of Verastem stock 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. The company has a current ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. Verastem, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.45 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The company has a market cap of $684.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.89.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.76 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSTM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Verastem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.29.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,716,000. Vivo Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 71.9% during the third quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 2,644,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,355,000 after buying an additional 1,106,524 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem in the third quarter worth about $1,252,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,058,776 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,349,000 after acquiring an additional 58,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new stake in Verastem during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,735,000. Institutional investors 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.