Opaleye Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM

Key Points

• Opaleye Management acquired 1.8 million Verastem shares worth approximately $6.9 million, giving it a 1.99% stake; institutional investors collectively own 88.37% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $13.83, despite Jefferies cutting its target to $8.
• Verastem reported quarterly revenue of $40.08 million and an adjusted loss of $0.35 per share, beating analyst estimates, while the stock recently traded at $7.62.

Opaleye Management Inc. acquired a new position in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,800,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $6,876,000. Verastem comprises approximately 0.6% of Opaleye Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Opaleye Management Inc. owned 1.99% of Verastem at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 182.9% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,578 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Verastem by 110.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 4,496 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Verastem during the second quarter worth $49,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Verastem during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total transaction of $87,240.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,242 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,391.56. The trade was a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 26,262 shares of company stock worth $111,897 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VSTM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Verastem from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $14.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Verastem from $15.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Mizuho set a $13.00 target price on Verastem and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.83.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $7.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $690.07 million, a PE ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.56. Verastem, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.43 and a fifty-two week high of $10.82.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.08. Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. The business had revenue of $40.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.88 million. Analysts expect that Verastem, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Verastem Company Profile

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.

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