Short Interest in Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) Expands By 22.8%

Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,320,000 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the February 28th total of 5,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days. Currently, 16.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dan Paterson sold 8,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.24, for a total transaction of $44,896.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 347,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,821,324.44. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 9,960 shares of company stock valued at $53,498 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Verastem

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Verastem by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 103,601 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 32,791 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC bought a new stake in shares of Verastem in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Verastem by 493.7% in the third quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 216,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 179,725 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in Verastem by 62.3% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Verastem by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 424,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after buying an additional 65,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.37% of the company’s stock.

Verastem Stock Performance

NASDAQ VSTM opened at $6.03 on Tuesday. 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 has a twelve month low of $2.10 and a twelve month high of $13.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.81. The firm has a market cap of $310.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.89 and a beta of 0.60.

Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.76) by ($0.57). As a group, equities research analysts predict that Verastem will post -3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VSTM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Verastem from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Verastem from $16.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. B. Riley upped their price target on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Verastem from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Verastem from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

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.