ProShare Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,925 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $20,400,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 3,752,583 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,401,000 after buying an additional 19,250 shares in the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the fourth quarter worth $13,778,000. BVF Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Verastem by 6.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verastem news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 58,677 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total transaction of $477,044.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 461,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,755,913.66. This trade represents a 11.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Daniel Calkins sold 11,143 shares of Verastem stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.13, for a total transaction of $90,592.59. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 114,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $927,267.15. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,168 shares of company stock worth $577,292. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $5.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $324.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.85. Verastem, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $9.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VSTM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Verastem from $10.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Verastem in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.63.

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.