Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) by 48.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 590,184 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 192,429 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned 0.88% of Verastem worth $5,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VSTM. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 9.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,188 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 10.5% during the third quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,249 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 28.8% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,945 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 6,691 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verastem by 35.9% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,833 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 7,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Verastem by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 59,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 9,594 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VSTM shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered Verastem from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. HC Wainwright started coverage on Verastem in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho set a $18.00 target price on Verastem in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.00.

Verastem Price Performance

NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $6.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.16. The firm has a market cap of $420.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.97 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.09. Verastem, Inc. has a one year low of $4.01 and a one year high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $17.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.85 million. Research analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 5,039 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $36,079.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 104,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $749,788.04. This trade represents a 4.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dan Paterson sold 10,321 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.16, for a total transaction of $73,898.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 400,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,864,744.64. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 19,678 shares of company stock valued at $148,825 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.