Verastem, Inc. $VSTM Shares Sold by AIGH Capital Management LLC

AIGH Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) by 41.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,121,682 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 805,318 shares during the period. Verastem comprises about 0.9% of AIGH Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. AIGH Capital Management LLC owned 1.24% of Verastem worth $9,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Opaleye Management Inc. purchased a new position in Verastem in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,876,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Verastem by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 569,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 347,872 shares during the last quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Verastem by 58.5% in the 1st quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 636,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,375,000 after buying an additional 234,957 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Verastem during the 2nd quarter worth $706,000. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP raised its stake in Verastem by 715.1% during the 1st quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 123,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 108,260 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Verastem

Here are the key news stories impacting Verastem this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Verastem’s reported quarterly loss improved from $1.35 per share a year ago, though it remained larger than analysts expected. Zacks report
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Dan Paterson sold 1,299 shares—about 0.20% of his holdings—in a transaction under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, leaving him with more than 651,000 shares. The small, scheduled sale may have limited significance for investors. SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted an updated corporate presentation on its oncology programs, but the report provided no specific new developments likely to change the investment outlook. Corporate presentation update
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted loss was $0.72 per share, wider than the $0.47-per-share consensus estimate. Revenue of $24.0 million also fell short of expectations of about $26.6 million. The earnings and sales misses are the clearest near-term headwinds for the stock. Third-quarter results

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VSTM. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a report on Monday, October 5th. Guggenheim set a $12.00 price target on Verastem and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $13.00 price target (up from $11.00) on shares of Verastem in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Verastem from $18.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Verastem from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.67.

Verastem Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of Verastem stock opened at $9.38 on Friday. Verastem, Inc. has a one year low of $3.43 and a one year high of $10.82. The company has a market cap of $849.45 million, a P/E ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $8.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.47) by ($0.27). Verastem had a negative net margin of 231.59% and a negative return on equity of 467.49%. The firm had revenue of $24.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.57 million. On average, analysts forecast that Verastem, Inc. will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 44,121 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $352,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,221,696. This represents a 6.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,041 shares of company stock worth $386,390. Insiders own 1.94% of the company's stock.

Verastem Profile

Verastem, operating as Verastem Oncology, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for cancer. The company's research is centered on tumors driven by abnormalities in the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway, which can promote cancer-cell growth and resistance to treatment.

Verastem's leading product candidates include avutometinib, an oral RAF/MEK clamp designed to inhibit signaling within the RAS/MAPK pathway, and defactinib, an oral focal adhesion kinase inhibitor.

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