Millennium Management LLC Buys New Holdings in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,818 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verastem by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 8,185 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL boosted its holdings in Verastem by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,100,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,859,000 after acquiring an additional 415,249 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at $20,400,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Verastem by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 77,165 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 12,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Verastem in the fourth quarter valued at $387,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM opened at $5.88 on Friday. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.10 and a 1 year high of $9.10. The firm has a market cap of $323.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.84 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.00.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VSTM. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Verastem in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.63.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In related news, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total value of $90,592.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $927,267.15. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Dan Paterson sold 58,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,755,913.66. This represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 71,168 shares of company stock valued at $577,292. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Verastem 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.