25,428 Shares in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM Bought by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 25,428 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 22,504 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Verastem by 61.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,079 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 14,941 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the first quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Verastem by 32.8% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 49,959 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 12,330 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the first quarter worth approximately $305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, Director Paul A. Bunn sold 8,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.06, for a total transaction of $75,496.98. Following the sale, the director owned 8,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,496.98. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan Paterson sold 3,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total transaction of $32,132.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 438,818 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,972 shares of company stock worth $120,945. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on VSTM. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $15.00 price objective on Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.29.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM stock opened at $9.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 2.58 and a quick ratio of 2.55. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.45 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.82 and a 200 day moving average of $7.44. The company has a market cap of $619.05 million, a P/E ratio of -2.30 and a beta of 0.89.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The business had revenue of $11.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.76 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current 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.