Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Short Interest Update

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,930,000 shares, a growth of 59.5% from the December 31st total of 3,090,000 shares. Approximately 12.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,321 shares of company stock worth $52,217. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Aries Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Verastem by 55.4% during 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. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Verastem by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 37,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 10,352 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Verastem by 104.6% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 10,457 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 62.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 11,642 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $6.08. 834,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,632,105. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.75. 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 has a 52 week low of $2.10 and a 52 week high of $14.22.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.11. Sell-side analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on VSTM. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Friday, January 24th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.63.

About Verastem

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.