Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Sells $21,220.00 in Stock

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) CEO Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.61, for a total transaction of $21,220.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 418,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,443,658.98. The trade was a 0.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Dan Paterson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 8th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total value of $21,000.00.
• On Wednesday, December 3rd, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $20,000.00.
• On Monday, December 1st, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.39, for a total value of $20,780.00.
• On Friday, November 28th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.79, for a total value of $21,580.00.
• On Wednesday, November 26th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total value of $20,640.00.
• On Monday, November 24th, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $20,000.00.
• On Friday, November 21st, Dan Paterson sold 2,000 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $20,000.00.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Dan Paterson sold 3,299 shares of Verastem stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total transaction of $32,132.26.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, Dan Paterson sold 390 shares of Verastem stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $3,896.10.

Verastem Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:VSTM traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.12. 2,047,317 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,974,121. The company has a market capitalization of $675.81 million, a P/E ratio of -2.51 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 2.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.72. Verastem, Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.45 and a twelve month high of $11.24.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.51) by ($0.84). The firm had revenue of $11.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.76 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Verastem, Inc. will post -3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VSTM shares. Mizuho set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 price objective on Verastem and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.29.

Institutional Trading of Verastem

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Verastem by 236.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 756,402 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,561,000 after purchasing an additional 531,873 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem during the second quarter worth about $106,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Verastem during the first quarter worth about $305,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Verastem in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $550,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Verastem in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $300,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Verastem

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.