Rosalind Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Rosalind Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 900,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,653,000. Verastem comprises approximately 2.3% of Rosalind Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Rosalind Advisors Inc. owned approximately 2.02% of Verastem as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VSTM. FMR LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,878 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 30,339 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 11,642 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Verastem in the 3rd quarter valued at $112,000. Finally, Aries Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Verastem by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VSTM. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, January 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Verastem in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. B. Riley boosted their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.38.

Insider Transactions at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,988 shares of company stock valued at $53,608. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Verastem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VSTM opened at $6.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 3.23. Verastem, Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.10 and a 1-year high of $13.52. The company has a market cap of $295.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 0.60.

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

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.