Insider Selling: Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Sells $12,470.40 in Stock

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Dan Paterson sold 1,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.60, for a total transaction of $12,470.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 651,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,253,564.80. This trade represents a 0.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

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

• On Thursday, October 1st, Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $352,968.00.

Verastem Price Performance

VSTM stock opened at $8.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $761.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.10 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Verastem, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.43 and a 12-month high of $10.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.25.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.47) by ($0.27). Verastem had a negative net margin of 178.38% and a negative return on equity of 284.03%. The firm had revenue of $24.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.57 million. On average, analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Verastem

Here are the key news stories impacting Verastem this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright raised its price target from $18 to $20 and maintained a Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in Verastem’s prospects. HC Wainwright rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada lowered its target from $19 to $18 but kept its Outperform rating. The reduced target is a modest caution, while the rating remains supportive. RBC rating
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Dan Paterson sold 1,299 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, a sale equal to about 0.2% of his holdings; he still owned more than 651,000 shares afterward. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Verastem posted an updated corporate presentation on its oncology programs, but the available report did not specify material new developments. Presentation update
• Negative Sentiment: Verastem reported a Q3 loss of $0.74 per share, wider than the roughly $0.47 consensus loss, while revenue of $24.0 million missed estimates of about $26.6 million. The loss narrowed from $1.35 per share a year earlier, but the quarterly misses were the clearest near-term pressure on the stock. Q3 results

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at about $706,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Verastem by 157.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 347,872 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the first quarter worth approximately $10,600,000. Opaleye Management Inc. bought a new position in Verastem in the second quarter worth approximately $6,876,000. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Verastem by 58.5% in the first quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 636,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,375,000 after acquiring an additional 234,957 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on VSTM shares. BTIG Research upped their target price on Verastem from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Verastem in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Verastem from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.83.

About Verastem

Verastem, operating as Verastem Oncology, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancer. The company’s research is centered on tumors driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway, which can promote cancer-cell growth and resistance to treatment.

Verastem’s leading product candidates include avutometinib, an oral RAF/MEK clamp designed to inhibit signaling within the RAS/MAPK pathway, and defactinib, an oral focal adhesion kinase inhibitor.