Wellington Management Group LLP Invests $977,000 in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group has acquired a new stake in Verastem, Inc., purchasing 162,064 shares valued at approximately $977,000, representing about 0.31% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have upgraded Verastem's stock ratings, with B. Riley issuing a "strong-buy" rating, while the consensus rating overall is "Buy" with a target price of $13.29.
• Verastem reported earnings of ($0.39) per share last quarter, exceeding expectations, but faced lower revenue than anticipated at $2.14 million against a forecast of $6.01 million.

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 162,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $977,000. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.31% of Verastem at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of VSTM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Verastem by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,997 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 4th quarter worth $56,000. Voya Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at $74,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Verastem Stock Performance

VSTM traded up $0.78 on Thursday, reaching $10.28. The company had a trading volume of 2,306,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,842,161. The stock has a market capitalization of $632.69 million, a PE ratio of -3.13 and a beta of 0.93. Verastem, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2.34 and a 1 year high of $10.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Verastem to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Verastem from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. B. Riley raised shares of Verastem to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $13.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 17,808 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 443,839 shares in the company, valued at $2,276,894.07. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,488 shares of company stock worth $127,149. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

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.