Insider Selling: Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Sells 58,677 Shares of Stock

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Dan Paterson sold 58,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total value of $477,044.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 461,982 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,913.66. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Monday, May 5th, Dan Paterson sold 820 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.30, for a total value of $5,986.00.
• On Monday, March 17th, Dan Paterson sold 244 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.95, for a total transaction of $1,695.80.

Verastem Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM opened at $8.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $441.24 million, a P/E ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $12.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.66.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.24). As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VSTM. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. B. Riley upped their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho lowered their target price on Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price target on Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Verastem by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.