The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New $74,000 Investment in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 14,315 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $13,778,000. Rosalind Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter valued at $4,653,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Verastem during the 4th quarter worth $4,103,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Verastem in the 4th quarter worth about $328,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Verastem by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 948,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,906,000 after buying an additional 58,191 shares during the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VSTM shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Verastem from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Verastem in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.33.

Verastem Stock Up 2.1%

Verastem stock opened at $7.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. Verastem, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $12.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $425.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 0.85.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.96) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.24). On average, analysts predict that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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.