Bank of New York Mellon Corp Purchases 9,503 Shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 88,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 9,503 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Verastem were worth $457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Verastem by 67.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 890,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,663,000 after buying an additional 359,060 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Verastem by 18.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 424,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 65,265 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC increased its position in Verastem by 493.7% during the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 179,725 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Verastem by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 32,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Verastem by 546.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,708 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 47,094 shares during the period. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Verastem Trading Up 5.2 %

Shares of VSTM opened at $6.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.23. Verastem, Inc. has a 52-week low of $2.10 and a 52-week high of $13.52. The firm has a market cap of $346.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.11 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.13 and its 200-day moving average is $4.73.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.57). Equities analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on VSTM shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. B. Riley raised their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. This trade represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,960 shares of company stock worth $53,498. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.