Insider Selling: Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.61, for a total transaction of $21,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 418,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,443,658.98. This trade represents a 0.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Dan Paterson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 8th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total transaction of $21,000.00.
• On Wednesday, December 3rd, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $20,000.00.
• On Monday, December 1st, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.39, for a total value of $20,780.00.
• On Friday, November 28th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.79, for a total value of $21,580.00.
• On Wednesday, November 26th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total value of $20,640.00.
• On Monday, November 24th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $20,000.00.
• On Friday, November 21st, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $20,000.00.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Dan Paterson sold 3,299 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $32,132.26.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, Dan Paterson sold 390 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $3,896.10.

Verastem Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:VSTM traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $10.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,047,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,121. The company has a market cap of $675.81 million, a P/E ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.41. Verastem, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.45 and a 12 month high of $11.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted 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 business had revenue of $11.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.76 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Verastem by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,479,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,720,000 after purchasing an additional 55,394 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 62.1% during the second quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 3,404,425 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,128,000 after buying an additional 1,303,957 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 28.5% during the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,262,000 after buying an additional 656,194 shares in the last quarter. Vivo Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 71.9% in the third quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 2,644,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,524 shares during the period. Finally, Foresite Capital Management VI LLC grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 104.9% in the third quarter. Foresite Capital Management VI LLC now owns 2,615,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338,600 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Mizuho set a $15.00 price objective on Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 target price on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Verastem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.29.

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.