Octagon Capital Advisors LP Purchases New Stake in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM

Key Points

• Octagon Capital Advisors LP invested approximately $10.37 million to acquire 1,720,000 shares of Verastem, Inc., making it the 22nd largest position in their portfolio.
• Verastem's stock performance shows a 1-year range with a low of $2.40 and a high of $11.24, currently priced at $10.23.
• Wall Street analysts have recently upgraded Verastem's stock, with one Strong Buy rating and a consensus price target of $13.29.

Octagon Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,720,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $10,372,000. Verastem accounts for 1.1% of Octagon Capital Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Octagon Capital Advisors LP owned about 3.34% of Verastem at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Verastem by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,698 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Verastem by 3.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,784 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 4,183 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Verastem by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 20,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 6,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Verastem by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,234 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 8,185 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.13, for a total value of $91,355.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 443,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,276,894.07. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 24,488 shares of company stock valued at $127,149 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSTM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Verastem to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Verastem to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Verastem has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $13.29.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of Verastem stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.72. 1,766,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,873,712. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.44. The firm has a market cap of $598.22 million, a P/E ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.93. Verastem, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2.54 and a 52 week high of $11.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.56.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.64) by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 million. Research analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.