Verastem, Inc. $VSTM Shares Bought by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Verastem, Inc. by 236.9%, owning 756,402 shares valued at approximately $4.56 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analyst ratings for Verastem show a consensus of "Buy" with an average target price of $13.29, despite some fluctuations in ratings from various research firms.
• CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares at an average price of $5.13, which represented a 3.86% decrease in his ownership of the company stock.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) by 236.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 531,873 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.38% of Verastem worth $4,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth approximately $387,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,631,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $305,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 339,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 52,657 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Verastem to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley raised Verastem to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Verastem currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $13.29.

Verastem Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of VSTM traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,936,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,335,148. Verastem, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2.54 and a 52-week high of $11.24. The firm has a market cap of $556.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 0.93. The business's fifty day moving average is $7.72 and its 200 day moving average is $6.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 3.46 and a quick ratio of 3.44.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.01 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Verastem

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.