Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Short Interest Update

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,320,000 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the February 28th total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days. Approximately 16.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total value of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,960 shares of company stock worth $53,498. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VSTM. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Verastem in the 4th quarter worth about $3,742,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Verastem in the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Verastem by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 60,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares during the period. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VSTM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.88.

Verastem Trading Down 3.5 %

VSTM opened at $5.82 on Wednesday. Verastem has a 12-month low of $2.10 and a 12-month high of $13.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $299.65 million, a PE ratio of -1.82 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $6.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.83.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). As a group, research analysts expect that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.