Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Shares Purchased by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 77,165 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,198 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Verastem were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $74,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Verastem by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Verastem by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,740 shares during the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target 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. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.63.

Verastem Trading Down 1.5%

VSTM stock opened at $5.88 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.00. The stock has a market cap of $323.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.84 and a beta of 0.85. Verastem, Inc. has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $9.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.96) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.24). Equities analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 58,677 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total transaction of $477,044.01. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 461,982 shares in the company, valued at $3,755,913.66. The trade was a 11.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total value of $90,592.59. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 114,055 shares in the company, valued at $927,267.15. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,168 shares of company stock valued at $577,292 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.