Stonepine Capital Management LLC Has $3.70 Million Stock Holdings in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM

Key Points

• Stonepine Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Verastem, Inc. by 29.5%, owning 613,000 shares after selling 257,000 shares in the 1st quarter, which constitutes about 3.5% of their investment portfolio.
• Verastem reported earnings of ($0.39) per share for the most recent quarter, outperforming expectations of ($0.64), while revenue was $2.14 million, falling short of estimates.
• Wall Street analysts have issued a positive outlook on Verastem, with an average target price of $13.29 and several ratings upgraded to "buy" or "hold."

Stonepine Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) by 29.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 613,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 257,000 shares during the period. Verastem comprises approximately 3.5% of Stonepine Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Stonepine Capital Management LLC owned about 1.19% of Verastem worth $3,696,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VSTM. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at about $20,400,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth about $3,742,000. BVF Inc. IL grew its position in Verastem by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 2,100,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,859,000 after buying an additional 415,249 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Verastem during the first quarter worth about $1,631,000. Finally, OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Verastem by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. OCONNOR A Distinct Business Unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 608,524 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,146,000 after buying an additional 177,855 shares in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of VSTM traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $8.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,821,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,104,739. The company has a market capitalization of $547.71 million, a PE ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 0.83. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.34 and a fifty-two week high of $9.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.24.

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

Insider Activity at Verastem

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VSTM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Verastem from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Verastem to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verastem presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.29.

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.