104,000 Shares in Verastem, Inc. $VSTM Acquired by Knott David M Jr

Knott David M Jr acquired a new stake in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 104,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $551,000. Knott David M Jr owned 0.12% of Verastem at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Verastem by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 16,188 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,929 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Verastem by 182.9% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,578 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 20,476 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Verastem by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 4,496 shares during the last quarter. 88.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on VSTM. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Alliance Global Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Verastem in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Verastem in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Verastem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Verastem from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.40.

Verastem Trading Up 4.9%

NASDAQ:VSTM opened at $6.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 3.04 and a quick ratio of 3.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.45. Verastem, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.43 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $543.04 million, a PE ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 0.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Verastem

In other news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 20,871 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.18, for a total transaction of $87,240.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 591,242 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,391.56. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Verastem

Verastem Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies that target cancer stemness and resistance pathways. Established in 2010 and headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, Verastem Oncology applies a precision-medicine approach to identify key signaling nodes responsible for tumor growth and relapse, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. The company’s research platform integrates insights into complex signaling networks to advance novel compounds from early discovery through clinical proof of concept.

The company’s lead marketed product is COPIKTRA (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which received U.S.