Woodline Partners LP Takes $3.74 Million Position in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 723,806 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $3,742,000. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 1.63% of Verastem as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 18.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 19,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Verastem by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,445 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,737 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,055 shares in the company, valued at $927,267.15. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Dan Paterson sold 58,677 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 461,982 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,755,913.66. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,168 shares of company stock worth $577,292 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSTM has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Verastem from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Verastem in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.63.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of VSTM stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.32. The company had a trading volume of 624,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,076,282. 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 has a fifty day moving average of $6.59 and a 200-day moving average of $5.84. The company has a market capitalization of $401.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 0.85. Verastem, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $9.10.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). On average, equities analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.