Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Director Sells $85,500.00 in Stock

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Director Michael Kauffman sold 8,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $85,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,666 shares in the company, valued at $86,660. This trade represents a 49.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Verastem Stock Performance

VSTM stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,820,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,987,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.58. The firm has a market cap of $684.50 million, a PE ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.89. Verastem, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.45 and a 12 month high of $11.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.52.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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. On average, analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Verastem to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 price target on shares of Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.29.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 236.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,561,000 after purchasing an additional 531,873 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Verastem during the first quarter valued at $1,631,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the 1st quarter worth about $305,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at about $300,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.