Quantinno Capital Management LP Makes New $394,000 Investment in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM

Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 74,285 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned about 0.08% of Verastem as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Verastem by 78.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 62,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 27,477 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Verastem by 236.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Verastem by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,199,259 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,978,000 after purchasing an additional 238,995 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Verastem by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 59,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 9,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Verastem by 40.0% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 52,063 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 14,879 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total transaction of $87,240.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,391.56. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,262 shares of company stock worth $111,897. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Verastem Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $623.96 million, a P/E ratio of -2.59 and a beta of 0.26. Verastem, Inc. has a 1-year low of $3.43 and a 1-year high of $11.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $40.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.88 million. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSTM has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price target on Verastem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Mizuho set a $13.00 price target on Verastem and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.83.

Verastem Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.